Only one running back who’s at least 30 years old has more than 10 rushing attempts in the NFL this season. But the Baltimore Ravens’ Derrick Henry still has the thunder in his stiff-arm.
When Dallas Cowboys cornerback Caelen Carson is asked through the years to recount his welcome-to-the-NFL moment, it’ll likely be from Sunday’s game against the Ravens, when Henry stiff-armed the rookie into the turf as he piled up 151 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries in Baltimore’s 28-25 victory.
The stiff-arm of Carson helped earn the former Alabama All-American his sixth Angry Runs scepter, an award presented weekly by NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football.”
After his 18th game with at least 150 rushing yards (including three in the playoffs), Henry credited Baltimore’s offensive line.
“I think the offensive line allowed that to happen,” Henry said. “They came out with a mindset of moving guys off the line of scrimmage, being physical and playing the Ravens style of football, and I think they did a great job of that today. For me to have success – I told them before the game, I said, ‘When y’all go, I go. We all tied together,’ so hats off to the offensive line --Ronnie (Stanley), Andrew (Vorhees), Tyler (Linderbaum), Daniel (Faalele) and Pat (Mekari). Those guys did a great job, so hats off to them.”
Henry had 130 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries in his first two games with Baltimore – both losses for the Ravens, probably not what the team’s fans were expecting after Baltimore posted the best record in the NFL during the 2023 regular season, then added Henry in free agency in the offseason.
Henry said he was aware the offensive line was catching some outside heat leading into the game against the Cowboys.
“We all see it,” Henry said. “You can’t miss much of anything nowadays. It’s going to be right in your face whether you want to see it or not. At the end of the day, we all got to sit together, we all got to go out there and do a job, and we all got to change the narrative. Would we wanted to have started off on the right foot and everything just going the way we wanted to? But that’s not how it started.
“You find out who you are in tough times, and I felt like we accepted the challenge, knowing what was being said and everything that was going on. But as long as we stick together and believe in one another, we’ll be right where we want to be.”
