Historically, Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry has dominated when facing the Houston Texans, but he had the exact opposite result in Week 15.
Prior to this season, Henry had eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns over his previous five meetings against the Texans, which included a mind-boggling four games where he rushed for over 200 yards.
Last Sunday was not only the worst game of Henry’s career, it was one of the worst performances by a running back since 1948.
The Titans’ star ball carrier only totaled 10 yards on 20 touches. The only two running backs who came close to replicating a similar performance were Floyd Little in 1972 (21 yards, 20 touches) and Eddie Price in 1951 (15 yards, 20 touches.)
Fewest yards from scrimmage gained for player with 20+ touches in a game since 1948:
Derrick Henry 10 yards on 20 touches today vs Texans
Eddie Price 15 yards on 20 touches vs NY Yanks 11/4/1951
Floyd Little 21 yards on 20 touches vs Falcons 11/26/1972— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) December 18, 2023
Part of the reason was the poor run-blocking by the offensive line, but Henry simply didn’t look like himself, either.
The former Offensive Player of the Year has had some truly legendary moments throughout his career, and he will likely be a Hall of Famer someday.
However, last week was hard to watch, and it’s something I don’t think anyone ever expected to see out of the Alabama product.
Hopefully, it was just a really bad game, because if this is the end of the Henry era in Tennessee, he deserves to go out on a high note more than anybody.
