Tennessee Titans: Derrick Henry runs through Patriots on way to the bank

Derrick Henry put the Tennessee Titans on his back in the Wild Card Round against the Patriots and ran all the way to the bank in the huge win.

The Tennessee Titans were in New England to take on the Patriots in the Saturday nightcap of Wild Card Weekend in the 2020 NFL Playoffs. Titans running back Derrick Henry came into the matchup off a 200-yard rushing performance against the Texans in Week 17, which not only pushed Tennessee into the postseason but clinched the rushing title for Henry as well.

Meanwhile, the Patriots came in after ending up on the losing end of possibly the biggest upset of the regular season against Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins the previous week. After Henry’s late-season dominance though, the Patriots defensive game plan surely focused on stopping — or at least slowing down — the Titans running back.

From the first Tennessee drive on Saturday in Foxborough, however, that was obviously better executed in theory. Bringing down the bruising workhorse proved to be easier said than done, as many teams have realized when playing against him.

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On that first drive alone, he accounted for 49 yards on the ground and continued to be the heartbeat of the Titans offense. But Henry’s dominance was never more apparent than on the Titans drive with just over two minutes remaining in the first half, trailing 13-7.

With the second-half kickoff already going to them, the Titans drove 75 yards on Henry’s shoulders as the running back rushed for 53 yards (including a 29 yard run on the first play of the drive) and added a 22-yard catch and run that nearly went for a touchdown. Henry then punched it across the goal line to give Tennessee the advantage going into the locker room.

Henry ended the game with 182 rushing yards and 204 total yards on the day — and quite possibly ended the Patriots dynasty as we know as well. Talk about a way for the Heisman Trophy winner to celebrate his 26th birthday on Saturday.

The Titans will now head to Baltimore to take on the Ravens in the Divisional Round of the AFC playoffs. Beyond that though, Henry’s rookie contract comes up at the end of the Titans’ playoff run. And with the way that he’s played down the stretch and performed in Foxborough, it’s hard to say that he isn’t running straight to the bank by running through every defense in front of him.