Baltimore running back Derrick Henry’s touchdown streak ended on Monday night, but the Ravens still defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 30-23 in a matchup of AFC playoff contenders.
Henry ran for 140 yards on 24 carries, but the former Alabama All-American failed to reach the end zone for the first time this season. Henry had scored at least one touchdown in each of Baltimore’s 11 games since he signed with the Ravens as a free agent in the offseason.
That was the fourth longest streak to start an NFL season behind 14 games by O.J. Simpson for the Buffalo Bills in 1975 and 12 games by John Riggins for the Washington Redskins in 1983 and Jerry Rice for the San Francisco 49ers in 1987.
The Ravens went 3-of-3 on fourth down, with Henry converting twice on a second-half drive with Baltimore holding a 17-16 lead. Henry ran for 27 yards on fourth-and-1 at the Ravens 39-yard line and 2 yards on fourth-and-1 at the Chargers 25 on the way to a touchdown.
In his 44th 100-yard game, Henry became the eighth player in NFL history with at least 20 regular-season games with 140 or more rushing yards. Barry Sanders has the most with 32, followed by Jim Brown with 29, Eric Dickerson with 26, Walter Payton and Adrian Peterson with 25 apiece, Emmitt Smith with 22 and LaDainian Tomlinson with 20.
Henry has run for 1,325 yards and 13 touchdowns on 223 carries this season.
After falling behind 10-0, the Ravens got touchdown runs of 10 yards by quarterback Lamar Jackson and 51 yards by running back Justice Hill bracketing TD passes by Jackson of 40 yards to wide receiver Rashod Bateman and 6 yards to tight end Mark Andrews.
In addition to Henry, six other players from Alabama high schools and colleges played in the Baltimore-Los Angeles game:
- Ravens cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (St. Paul’s Episcopal, Alabama) made one tackle and broke up one pass.
- Bradley Bozeman (Handley, Alabama) started at center for the Chargers.
- Ravens wide receiver Malik Cunningham (Park Crossing) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
- Ravens guard Darrian Dalcourt (Alabama) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
- Chargers defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe (Alabama) made one tackle.
- Chargers long snapper Josh Harris (Auburn) handled the snaps for four field goals, three field goals and two extra points.
- Marlon Humphrey (Hoover, Alabama) started at cornerback for the Ravens. Humphrey made three tackles, registered one quarterback hit and broke up one pass.
- Chargers offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood (Alabama) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
- Ravens nose tackle Michael Pierce (Daphne, Samford) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
- Chargers punter JK Scott (Alabama) averaged 41.3 yards on four punts. Scott had a 43-yard punt to a fair catch at the Baltimore 31-yard line, which moved to the 16 because of a penalty on the Ravens; a 45-yarder downed at the Baltimore 7, a 38-yarder out of bounds at the Baltimore 28 and a 39-yarder downed at the Baltimore 9.
- Chargers running back Kimani Vidal (Troy) was designated as a game-day inactive.
Safety A.J. Finley (St. Paul’s Episcopal) had played 43 defensive snaps and 170 special-teams plays in Los Angeles’ previous 10 games this season. But the former Mobile prep star was waived on Monday before the game to create a spot on the Chargers’ 53-man active roster for defensive back Deane Leonard, who came off injured reserve.
Los Angeles (7-4) plays the Atlanta Falcons at noon CST Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
