Houston Still Has a Problem with Henry

For the fourth straight time, the Tennessee Titans running back tops 200 rushing yards against the division rival. In so doing, he tied an NFL record.

Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports

When asked on Thursday, Derrick Henry did not want to hear about what he has done against the Houston Texans throughout his career.

“I don’t try to live in the past,” he said. “I’ve had some good games, but every year is different.”

Then on Sunday, the first time he faced the Texans since the final game of the 2020 season, it was the same old, same old.

The Tennessee Titans running back tied an NFL record for career 200-yard rushing games when he went for 219 yards on 32 carries against the Texans at NRG Stadium. He rushed for 63 yards on seven carries in the first quarter, which included a 41-yard run (his longest of the season). He added 61 yards on eight carries in the second, 61 yards on nine attempts in the third and capped the day with 34 yards on eight rushes in the fourth.

It was the sixth time he reached that milestone. Four of the six have been against Houston, which makes Henry the only player in league history to run for 200 or more so often against a single opponent – and he has done it four in a row. The foot injury that sidelined him for the second half of 2021 caused him to miss both games against the Texans last season.

“Credit to those guys up front and all the guys blocking – O-line, receivers, tight ends, fullbacks – making the sacrifice to be able to block and to have the will to for us to have success and for me go out there and make a play,” Henry said after the game. “I give all the credit to them.

“I just had to go out there and do my job.”

The only others with six 200-yard rushing games are O.J. Simpson and Adrian Peterson. All of Simpson’s came in a four-year span (1973-76) while Peterson’s were spread out over nine seasons (2007-15). Henry’s first came in Week 14 of the 2018 season.

A rundown of Derrick Henry’s career 200-yard rushing games:

Date	Opponent	Att.	Yards	TD
Jan. 3, 2021	at Houston	34	250	2
Dec. 6, 2018	vs. Jacksonville	17	238	4
Oct. 30, 2022	at Houston	32	219	2
Dec. 13, 2020	at Jacksonville	26	215	2
Oct. 18, 2020	vs. Houston	22	212	2
Dec. 19, 2019	at Houston	32	211	3

For good measure, Henry scored Tennessee’s only two touchdowns in a 17-10 victory that ran the team’s current win streak to five games. His 29-yard run with 4:20 to play in the second quarter made it 7-3 and put the Titans ahead to stay. His 1-yard run with 6:31 to play in the third extended the advantage to 11 points and gave him the franchise record for career touchdowns.

As a result, Henry’s six games of 200 yards or more and two touchdowns are twice as many as any other player in league history. Sanders, Jim Brown and LaDainian Tomlinson each had three. No one else has done it more than twice.

The performance overshadowed the first start for rookie quarterback Malik Willis, who filled in for Ryan Tannehill, who did not make the trip after a week of battling an ankle injury and an illness. Willis threw just 10 passes and completed six for 55 yards. He was intercepted once.

“I think it’s our offense,” Willis said. “When we run the ball and they can’t stop it, what would you do? We just try to continue to stay within our offense and play the game.”

Henry is the first NFL player to rush for 200 yards in a game this season. Austin Ekeler’s 173 yards for the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 6 was the league’s best for 2022 coming into the contest.

Henry now has rushed for more than 100 yards in four straight games and finished the game as the NFL’s rushing leader with 755 yards, 15 more than Cleveland’s Nick Chubb, who plays on Monday night.

“I think we’ve come to expect that from him,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “He puts so much on himself, and we all have to find ways to – when something good, bad or ugly happens – to get back to center and get back to work. And Derrick, he expects more of himself than anybody on this football team or any coaching member would.

“I’m glad we have him.”