December 15, 2018 – Leader of the Pack Sports

Written by: Conner Pack

Coming off a monster game, last Thursday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars, in which Derrick Henry had a career night, setting a new franchise record for rushing yards in a game with 238-yards as well as rushed for four touchdowns. It was the breakout game many Titans fans had been waiting to see for quite some time. The biggest question now becomes how will Henry follow up his historic performance Sunday in New Jersey against the New York Giants?

Earlier this week, Paul Kuharsky, of 104.5’s the Midday 180 and Paul Kuharsky.com, brought up some very interesting stats in regards to Henry’s production following a 100 plus yard game. It’s quite underwhelming the follow up performances he’s had. Prior to Henry’s breakout game on Thursday night he had just three 100 plus yard games, all of which came last season.

Henry’s 100-yard games

Week 6 vs. Indianapolis Colts: 19 carries, 131-yards, 1 touchdown, and a 6.8 average

Week 13 vs. Houston Texans: 11 carries, 109-yards, 1 touchdown, and a 9.9 average

Wild Card Playoffs vs. Kansas City Chiefs: 23 carries, 156-yards, 1 touchdown, and a 6.7 average

All three games were wins for the Titans.

Henry’s follow up performance after 100-yard games

Week 7 vs. Cleveland Browns: 13 carries, 54-yards, and a 1.0 average

Week 14 vs. Arizona Cardinals: 8 carries, 20-yards, 1 touchdown, and a 2.5 average

Divisional Round Playoffs vs. New England Patriots: 12 carries, 28-yards, and a 2.3 average

The Titans went 1-2.

So given what he’s done in the past it’s highly unlikely to expect Henry to dominate the New York Giants on Sunday. Also, the New York Giants defensive coordinator is James Bettcher, former Cardinals defensive coordinator. Last season when the Titans traveled to Arizona, Derrick Henry was chewed up and spit out, as he was a non-factor in a bad loss for the Titans. That also happened to be one of the three underwhelming follow up games he had. While defensive coordinator for the Cardinals, James Bettcher’s defense’s never finished worse than sixth in total defense.

However, since Bettcher became the Giants defensive coordinator they have struggled to consistently stop the run, which plays to Derrick Henry and the Titans advantage. Through thirteen games, the Giants are allowing 121.8-yards per game and haven given up 13 rushing touchdowns. As promising of a defensive coordinator James Bettcher might be, getting this Giants defense to consistently stop the run and slow teams down has been a struggle.

Final Thoughts

My hope is that Henry will be able to break the current streak of bad follow up performances and put together a solid game Sunday afternoon. Obviously 238-yards and four touchdowns is pretty outlandish, but he needs to give the offense more than just 34-yards on 11 carries (average of his three follow up games). Sunday’s game is a big one that the Titans need to win in order to keep pace with the other 7-6 teams trying to secure the final playoff spot in the AFC.