A TITAN CHALLENGE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Trying to tackle Titans running back Derrick Henry is like trying to tackle a bulldozer. When you factor in his defining signature move of having a stiff-arm move from hell, it’s more like trying to tackle a bulldozer with an added hemi-powered, jack-hammer element. ● Bring it, say the Cardinals. ● They’re ready for whatever the rugged 6-foot-3, 247-pound Henry is ready to bring on Sunday in the season opener for both teams at Nissan Stadium.
Arizona will be well aware of underrated quarterback Ryan Tannehill and his top two wide receivers, A.J. Brown and Julio Jones, according to All-Pro safety Budda Baker, “but at the end of the day,” he said, “Derrick is that first guy you’re going to have to stop and if you can’t stop him, you’re not going to be able to stop the Tennessee Titans.”
Henry has won the league’s rushing title each of the past two seasons, including rushing for the fifth-highest total in NFL history last season (2,027). From 2018 through 2020, he’s accumulated more rushing yards (4,626) and rushing touchdowns (45) than any other player.
Only four running backs have ever won the rushing title in three consecutive seasons — Steve Van Buren (194749), Jim Brown (1957-61 and 1963-64), Earl Campbell (1978-80) and Emmitt Smith (1991-93), but Henry might easily be the next and the Cardinals can’t afford to let him go bonkers on Sunday.
Winning a third straight rushing title isn’t on Henry’s mind. He just wants to dominate and see where the chips fall when it’s all over.
“I don’t get caught up in that,” he told reporters recently. “I just focus on me getting better. I say it a lot. That’s all I focus on – just getting better every day, working hard and putting in the work and competing. That’s all you can do. Let everything else take care of itself.”
Outside linebacker Markus Golden, for one, can’t wait for the one-on-one challenge.
“You look forward to going against top guys like that, just to get out there and compete against them,” he said. “You watch them on film and see what they can do, but there ain’t nothing like going against them on the field and going against them in person.
“I’m excited to play anybody, but when you get a big running back like that, a big-time, Top 5 player in the NFL, then yeah, you get a little more excited and you want to bring it a little more.”
You can’t help but bring it, according to Cardinals insider linebacker Isaiah Simmons, when a powerful back like Henry packs such a devastating stiffarm move that he basically posturizes so many would-be defenders.
Just like Golden, though, Simmons isn’t afraid.
“I’m not playing scared or anything,” he said. “I mean, to not get stiff armed. I’m going out there and playin’ ball. At the end of the day, he puts his cleats on just like me. Yeah, he does have that great stiff-arming ability, but I’m not going into the game like ‘Let me not make a highlight.’ I’m just going to go play.”
Simmons said a key on Sunday will be just trying to keep Henry “off of our secondary,” explaining that with Henry’s “monstrous stiff arm,” it’s vitally important to “keep him off our smaller guys as much as we can.”
Told of Simmons’ comments, Baker smiled brightly and couldn’t help but laugh. Over the last two seasons, after all, Baker has led all NFL defensive backs in total tackles (265) and solo tackles (175). He either led or tied for the team lead in both categories in 2019 and 2020.
“I love Isaiah saying that,” Baker said. “Being the D-line and linebacker, of course, it’s their job. But it’s also the DB’s job as well. Offenses do a great job of trying to get the DB’s to tackle because they know nine times out of 10, especially in the NFL, corners don’t really like to tackle, they like to cover.
“So, that’s what offenses like to do.
They like to get you in those tight formations in order for the wide receiver to crack down on the safety and make the corner have to block on the running back and they do a really good job of that, the Tennessee Titans.”
It all starts and really ends with Henry, the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2020 and first-team All-Pro who averaged 126 yards per game. Baker, 26, was asked if he’s ever seen a bigger, more dangerous type of running back than Henry and he said he remembers maybe only one.
It was the Giants’ behemoth running back Brandon Jacobs and Baker said the memory comes solely from having played Madden NFL video games as an 8-year-old.
“You see him, and you don’t really think he played running back because he’s so big, so strong,” Baker explained. “He definitely has that elusiveness, but at the end of the day, he’s Derrick Henry. He doesn’t care if it’s a D-linemen, a DB, he’s going to try to get past you.”
If the Titans find themselves in thirdand-short situations on Sunday against the Cardinals, it’s a sure bet they’re more than likely going to feed the ball to Henry and let him plow the road.
“To be in a third-and-short situation for the Titans, that’s where they’re great at,” Baker said. “That’s where they’re amazing at. You can run the ball thirdand-two, two-and-four, or you can playaction pass, you can quick game or screen pass, you can do anything on third-and-short.
“For us as a defense, we want to first and foremost stop the run. That’s the biggest thing. To mess with their offense a little bit, you first have to stop the run.”
That means trying to tackle a bulldozer with a hemi-powered stiff arm.
Notes
The Cardinals on Saturday placed linebacker Dennis Gardeck (hand) on injured reserve and signed linebacker Kylie Fitts to the active roster from the practice squad.
In addition, the team elevated cornerback Antonio Hamilton to the active roster from the practice squad as a COVID-19 replacement.