When Derrick Henry left the Tennessee Titans as an NFL free agent to sign with the Baltimore Ravens in March, the Houston Texans probably didn’t shed any tears.
During his time with the Tennessee Titans, the former Alabama All-American tormented the Texans as perhaps no other running back has any other franchise.
Henry is tied for the NFL record with six 200-yard rushing games. O.J. Simpson and Adrian Peterson also had six apiece of the 163 200-yard rushing games in NFL history.
Ten times, the same player has run for 200 yards against the same team twice, including Henry against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But only one player has run for 200 yards against the same team more than twice – Henry, who has done so in four games against Houston.
With Henry leaving the division, the Texans could face the Titans twice annually as AFC South rivals without having to play Henry.
But Houston still has to play against Henry this season. The Texans will play the Ravens for the 13th time in franchise history on Wednesday as the second half of the NFL’s Christmas doubleheader, giving Henry the opportunity to add to his 1,431 rushing yards against Houston.
Henry enters Wednesday’s game with 1,636 rushing yards, the second-most in the NFL in 2024.
“I think Derrick has found that fountain of youth,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. ”He’s playing fast. He’s playing physical. He is tough as ever. Looks like the old Derrick Henry. And he’s low, and he’s playing very powerful. He has some really long runs, long runs for touchdowns, so he has it all -- the speed, physicality. Like, he brings it all, and the O-line is doing a really good job of giving him some nice lanes to run through, so it’s going to be a difficult match up for us when it comes to just stopping the run game, probably the best run unit we’ve seen all year.”
