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Tennessee Titans RB DeMarco Murray ruled out for NFL Wild Card Round

By Matias Wodner

NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 31: Injured Running Back DeMarco Murray of the Tennessee Titans looks on as the team warms up before there game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Nissan Stadium on December 31, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 31: Injured Running Back DeMarco Murray of the Tennessee Titans looks on as the team warms up before there game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Nissan Stadium on December 31, 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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Dealing with a knee injury, veteran RB DeMarco Murray will miss his second consecutive game for the Tennessee Titans.

In the Tennessee Titans’ Week 16 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, their starting running back went down on a play where his knee collided with a defender’s helmet. DeMarco Murray would end up leaving the game very late and subsequently missed the all-important Week 17 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Though the coaching staff painted an optimistic picture leading up to last week’s game, Murray will be out once again this week.

Backup Derrick Henry will get a second straight start, this time in the first playoff game of his career in frigid Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs. Henry started last week in Murray’s absence and was consistently stuffed by a penetrating Jaguars defense.

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He carried the ball 28 times for just 51 yards, but he scored the Titans’ only touchdown of the game on a 66-yard screen pass. In the running game, the Titans’ offensive line did him no favors, but Henry admitted himself that he played “soft”.

The Titans will need Henry to play angry, in a similar fashion to how he played when the Titans won at Arrowhead last season on a last-second Ryan Succop field goal. Against what was then a very stout run defense unit, Henry racked up 58 yards on his nine carries and scored two touchdowns, one from four yards out and the other from the one.

The defense played very well in that game, limiting Alex Smith to 163 yards and forcing an interception out of him. That defensive performance allowed Henry to have the day that he did, as the Titans kept it close until the end and were able to stick with the running game. The recipe will be similar on Saturday, and this time Henry will have the backfield all to himself in Kansas City.

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