Titans’ Henry denies Chubb NFL rushing title

With the Browns limping to the finish line running back Nick Chubb couldn’t find the yards to keep his place at the top.

It was only fitting for Nick Chubb on this day.

With the Browns limping to the finish line — losing to the lowly Bengals on Dec. 29 — running back Nick Chubb couldn’t find enough room on the ground and it cost the second-year player.

He was denied the NFL rushing title by the Titans’ Derrick Henry.

At the start of Dec. 29, the NFL rushing leaders — Chubb and the Christian McCaffrey of the Panthers — had a lead on the Titans’ Derrick Henry, who played against the Texans in a late Sunday afternoon game.

Henry had a monster game, as he rushed for 211 yards and scored three touchdowns against Houston. His 53-yard TD run in the fourth quarter secured

Henry the title.

Henry finished the season 1,570 yards, and Chubb 1,453.

Earlier this month, the reserved Chubb said he was more concerned with wins than a rushing title. But he did say this about the possibility of achieving that:

“It will mean a lot to me only because how hard I worked and it paid off for me,” said Chubb. “That’s really the biggest thing for me is just when I work hard, it shows and I get the results that I want.”

Chubb had a 92-yard lead on the field on the morning of Dec. 29, but he didn’t get the results he needed in Cincinnati. He managed 41 yards against the Bengals, while the second-place running back — Christian McCaffrey of the Panthers — had an even more difficult time against the Saints with 26 yards.

Chubb was hoping to join

Leroy Kelly (1967, ‘68), Jim Brown (1957, ‘58, ‘59, ‘60, ‘61, ‘63, ‘64, ‘65) and Marion Motley (1950) as Browns running backs who have won a rushing title.

Despite his struggles against the Bengals, Chubb, named to the AFC Pro Bowl, had a breakout sophomore season:

• Chubb had seven 100yard games.

• His best game was at Baltimore on Sept. 29 with 165 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns, including one for 88 yards.

• He averaged 5.1 yards per attempt.

As a rookie in 2018, Chubb rushed for 996 yards on 192 carries (5.2-yard average) and scored 10 total TDs.

GARY LANDERS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Nick Chubb rushes against Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt during the Browns’ loss to the Bengals on Dec. 29 in Cincinnati.