The Tennessee Titans might want to put out an all-points bulletin on their star running back because Derrick Henry was a missing person when it mattered most.
There was no way to drown out the noise before the AFC Championship game kicked off. The Derrick Henry headlines were prevalent. The discussion was loud and obnoxious.
Despite being the No. 6 seed, the Tennessee Titans had earned instant national respect as a disruptive team playing with house money. Specifically, Derrick Henry had turned heads on a national level due to his incredible postseason run—literal.
Best RB in the league right now @KingHenry_2 Go Krazy today bro‼️💪🏾
— Todd Gurley II (@TG3II) January 19, 2020
The praise for Henry was well-deserved. He ran for 211 yards and 3 touchdowns to ensure the Titans made it into the postseason in the first place. Then the Titans upset the New England Patriots on the road thanks to Henry’s 182 yards and 1 rushing touchdown. In the Divisional Round, they knocked off the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens as Henry put up 195 rushing yard and 1 touchdown.
It was a historic run by Henry that made him seem unstoppable, especially against the same Chiefs team that he put up 188 yards against with 2 touchdowns in Week 10. Certainly he would do it again, or at least require so much attention from the defense that he would free up Ryan Tannehill to do his damage.
Unfortunately for Henry, the praise didn’t match the production.
On Sunday, Henry started the day just fine with 15 carries for 62 yards and 1 touchdown. That’s good for an average of 4.1 yards/carry. Despite the Titans being within a few points, however, the team went away from Henry completely in the second half. He finished the second half with seven yards on four carries.
For the game, Henry averaged a scant 69 rushing yards on 19 carries and 1 touchdown, good for a 3.6 yards/carry average. He also caught two passes for negative-8 yards. Yes, that’s -8. In other words, he had 21 touches for 61 total yards, good for a 2.9 yards/touch average.
That’s the sort of total that makes headlines—of a player who needs to be replaced.
Every team hits a wall and the Titans were, as we said, playing with house money. Even in the loss to the Chiefs, the Titans have enjoyed a season to be proud of, to be sure. Mike Vrabel looks like one of the NFL’s best young coaches. Ryan Tannehill completely turned around his career. The Titans have loads of bright young talent.
Even more, Derrick Henry just put up one of the best seasons by a running back in recent history. Not only did he lead the NFL in rushing this season, but he put up more rushing yards than any back since 2016 (Zeke Elliott). This year’s total of 1,540 yards is the fourth best season in Titans history and his 16 rushing touchdowns are second only to Earl Campbell‘s total in 1979.
But here’s the reality from Sunday: for all the talk that the Henry was going to run through any wall put up by the Chiefs, it was instead Henry who hit the bricks and fell flat. He was a non-factor when it counted after a hyped-up week discussing his second-half heroics. One team finally figured out how to stop Derrick Henry and it just happened to be the Kansas City Chiefs.
For a team that finished dead last in overall defense a season ago, it’s worthy of another set of headlines that K.C. was the team to put Derrick Henry back in the box they found him. Instead of Henry being the talking point, guys like Mike Pennel, Chris Jones, Reggie Ragland and Anthony Hitchens showed how the other half lives.
Henry will make plenty of money this offseason from a team flush with cash. However, it won’t be game tape from the AFC Championship that’s used by his agent in his sales pitch. Instead the Chiefs showed just how you handle Henry when it matters most to keep him from being any matter at all.