Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry accepts congratulations from fans after running for 238 yards and four touchdowns in Thursday night’s 30-9 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Nashville.NASHVILLE – Under center at his own 1-yard line, Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota checked out of a quarterback sneak.
Derrick Henry did the rest – as much with his arms as with his legs.
The 6-foot-3, 247-pound running back sped and stiff-armed his way to a record-tying 99-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter, and Tennessee routed the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-9 Thursday night to stay in the playoff chase.
Henry matched Tony Dorsett’s 99-yard dash for the Dallas Cowboys against the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 3, 1983 for the longest touchdown run in NFL history. Henry ran to his left and went up the sideline, stiff-arming cornerback A.J. Bouye, then doing the same thing to rookie linebacker Leon Jacobs twice before finally shoving linebacker Myles Jack to finish off the second of his four touchdown runs.
“Once I got in the open field on that 99-yard run, it was going to take all of them,” Henry said. “I definitely wasn’t going to go down easy, so I definitely wanted to use my stiff-arm to my advantage, and it worked.”
The Titans talked before the possession about going 99 yards, so left tackle Taylor Lewan was a bit surprised to hear the call for a quarterback sneak.
“I was like, ‘That ain’t going to get us 99 yards, boys,'” Lewan said. “But it was checked, so it was cool.”
Henry, a third-year pro and the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama, celebrated by striking the Heisman pose not once, but twice. Dorsett – himself a Heisman winner in 1976 – didn’t keep the ball from his run, but Henry said he’d definitely keep his.
“He’s a legend,” Henry said of Dorsett. “It’s cool to be in that company with Tony Dorsett.”
Henry also set a franchise record with 238 rushing yards on 16 carries, topping the previous mark of 228 yards set by Chris Johnson in 2009 against, yes, the same AFC South rival. Johnson called Henry’s 99-yarder “amazing” on Twitter and congratulated Henry on the team record.
Henry tied Lorenzo White and Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell for most rushing touchdowns in a single game in franchise history. Henry also became the first player in the NFL with four rushing touchdowns in a game since Jonas Gray of the New England Patriots on Nov. 16, 2014.
Titans coach Mike Vrabel called Henry’s night “very impressive.”
“He just ran out of guys to stiff-arm,” Vrabel said.
With the rout and their second win in a row, the Titans (7-6) stayed in contention with their fourth straight victory in the series with their oldest division rival. They’ve won six of their past seven against Jacksonville.
The Jaguars (4-9), who reached the AFC championship game last season, have lost eight of their past nine overall, and coach Doug Marrone said he was “heavily disappointed.”
“Obviously, we had a difficult time on first, second and third (downs), and sometimes on the fourth tackling (Henry),” Marrone said. “He had, obviously, a career night.”
Mariota, wearing black tape on the back of his right hand, threw for 162 yards. The Titans outgained the Jaguars 426-255 in offensive yards, and Tennessee’s defense recorded four sacks.
Jacksonville came in with the league’s fifth-best scoring defense after shutting out Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck for the first time in the 2012 No. 1 draft pick’s NFL career. But Jacksonville has been susceptible against the run, ranking 16th by giving up an average of 108.4 yards per game this season.
Henry nearly matched that on his record-tying run.
“For the rest of his life, I’ll be on his highlights,” Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell said about Henry.
The record-tying score capped a huge swing in momentum.
Titans rookie Cameron Batson muffed a punt at the Titans’ 7 before recovering at the 1 and being tackled in the end zone for a safety. The Jaguars took the ensuing free kick and drove downfield before ending up in fourth-and-1 at the Titans’ 5. The Titans kept the Jaguars out of the end zone over the next four plays, the last with rookie linebacker Rashaan Evans tripping up Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette.
On the very next play, Henry started toward the middle before turning left for the touchdown run on which he simply couldn’t be stopped. By halftime, Henry had 129 yards on six carries with two touchdowns – his first covered 3 yards – to become the Titans’ first 100-yard rusher this season. He added touchdown runs of 16 and 54 yards in the third quarter.
Henry has three touchdown runs covering 70 or more yards since 2017, the most in the NFL in that span. Fournette, who has two such touchdowns, is the only other player with more than one in that span. According to the NFL, no player in the Super Bowl era had rushed for 200 or more yards and four or more touchdowns on 20 or fewer carries in a game.