TITANS ROLL UP 601 YARDS.
Unit shredded for franchise-record 601 yards total offense withTitans star rushing for 212
Derrick Henry resembled a runaway truck, all gasoline and no brakes, as he plowed through the Texans’ overmatched defense with little interference Sunday afternoon.
Although the Texans didn’t fall victim to Henry’s violent stiffarm like Bills corner Josh Norman did on Tuesday, there was no shortage of domination or embarrassment rendered by the Titans’ powerful running back.
It was fitting that it was Henry who delivered the final blow to a beleaguered defense during the Texans’ 42-36 overtime defeat at Nissan Stadium.
Lining up in theWildcat formation for a direct snap with quarterback Ryan Tannehill shifted outside to receiver, Henry busted into the end zone as he had no trouble running roughshod against safety Justin Reid and linebacker Brennan Scarlett for the game-winning touchdown to keep the Titans undefeated.
Regardless of whether the 6foot-3, 247-pound reigning NFL rushing championwas flexing his muscles in the red zone at the end of the game or delivering a 94-yard touchdown run in regulation during which he eluded linebacker Zach Cunningham with safety Eric Murray diving in vain at his ankles before easily winning a foot race against Reid and linebacker Tyrell Adams, it was an ugly performance in all phases by the Texans’ weary defense.
Henry rushed for 212 yards and reached a speed of 21.6 miles per hour on his 94-yard run, per Next Gen Stats. He finished with a career-high 264 yards from scrimmage.
The Texans surrendered a franchise-record 601 yards of total offense and gave up four touchdown passes to quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
If not for the repeated failures of the defense, the outcome could have been altogether different considering how well quarterback Deshaun Watson performed. Instead, the Texans fell to 1-5 for the season and are left frustrated again and lamenting their shortcomings against one of the biggest and best running backs in the league as he exploited the NFL’s 31st-ranked run defense.
A historically dreadful performance left veteran defensive end J. J. Watt in an understandably salty mood.
“This is one of the tougher ones I’ve had, this one really hurts,” Watt said. “Offense played great, gave us opportunities to win the game, and we did not finish the game on defense. We had multiple opportunities and we didn’t do it. As leader of the defense, I put that squarely on my shoulders. So, this one is very difficult to take.
“If we do our job and we tackle, we’re all right. We didn’t do that. So, that’s never going towin you games. And when we do it right, it’s good. But we don’t do it right anywhere near enough, nowhere even close to the realm of .. So, it’s extremely frustrating. We’re not even close to doing it right too often.”
There were few answers against a potent offense engineered around Henry’s power and speed, Tannehill’s convincing play-action fakes and some sharp play-calling by Tennessee offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
The Titans piled up 31 first downs and averaged 8.6 yards per offensive play.
It didn’t matter that cornerback Bradley Roby notched the Texans’ first interception of the season or that Watt had a stripsack recovered by outside linebacker Jacob Martin or that Reid blocked a field goal.
“It wasn’t good enough,” said
Texans interim coach Romeo Crennel. “There were some good plays, but, overall, it wasn’t good enough.”
Henry rumbled 53 yards on a screen pass in overtime. Four plays later, he took a direct snap into the end zone on a 5-yard touchdown run. He’s now the fourth player in NFL history to rush for at least 200 yards in consecutive games against a single opponent.
“The offense gave us a chance to win the game,” Watt said. “We didn’t do it. Despite everything else that happened, back and forth obviously getting turnovers in the red zone, there’s opportunities. There’s times when we do it right and we do it well and at the end of the game when it matters most we didn’t. And that’s what hurts.”
Henry joinedHall of Fame running backs Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and LaDainian Tomlin
son as the fourth player in NFL history to have three games with at least 200-yard rushing games and two touchdown runs.
“Obviously, we all witnessed somebody taking a game over,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said.
Henry’s clocking on his long touchdown was the fourth-fastest speed reached by a ball carrier this season.
“Too slow,” Henry said. “I need to reach 22 mph.”
On the game-deciding touchdown by Henry, the Texans knew what was coming and still couldn’t stop it.
“Well, see, if we hadn’t practiced that play, Iwould saymaybe they weren’t prepared,” Crennel said. “But that play was run in practice, and they should have been prepared. They knew it was the Wildcat, and they thought that they knew where the ball was going to go.
“And the ball started where they thought it was going to go, but then when the ball came back, the responsibility had been vacated, and so there’s a lot of space for the runner.”
Henry’s excellence is no secret to the Texans. He rushed for 211 yards in a regular-season game against them last season when several starters were rested by the Texans with their playoff seeding already determined.
“He’s a special talent, man,” Reid said. “He’s the biggest back in the league, but still has speed to him whenever he gets out in open space.
“We just got to do a better job containing him. Give him credit, man, he’s a top-tier talent in the league.”
The Texans’ defense entered Sunday allowing 160.4 rushing yards per game. On Sunday, they allowed 263 yards on the ground and 9.7 yards per run.
Because the Texans have to respect the threat of the running game with Henry, Tannehill’s accuracy and the talents of his receivers, including Brown (two touchdown catches), tight end Anthony Firkser (eight catches, 113 yards, one score) and Adam Humphries (six catches one score), they are extremely vulnerable to the Titans’ play-action game.
“When you have a running back that can do what they do and also a quarterback that throws the way he does, it makes it very difficult for defense because it keeps you honest,” Watt said. “So, you have to be extremely disciplined in what you’re doing as a defense.
“Everybody has to be doing their jobs at all times. And if one guy or two guys don’t do their jobs, it can make for a massive gaping hole.”