Ranking the best of Derrick Henry Stiff Arms
Even when Derrick Henry isn’t having 200+ yard games, he finds ways to strike fear into the hearts of defenders in the form of the NFL’s best stiff arm.
This isn’t something that developed over night, but if you are a casual NFL fan then it is easy to miss the absolute devestation that his stiff arms cause. I mean, it isn’t your fault that the NFL doesn’t give the Titans more prime time games.
You might have a good idea why I am bringing this up now, and if you are a Buffalo Bills fan (or Josh Norman) please look away and have a nice today because this is where the PTSD gets triggered.
Derrick Henry put together another nasty move in Tuesday’s game against the Bills. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’ll let you enjoy the glory of it for yourself.
Straight filthy.
King Henry has put another defender on the ground with his moves, power, and strength. Henry, who is currently third in the league in rushing, electrified the team with that move and jolted the Titans to a 42-16 victory.
Since Henry has been in the league, he has put together highlight after highlight, season after season. Whether it be ridiculously long touchdowns or trucking over linebackers and defensive backs, Henry has a career worth of highlights already. However, the best of Henry is his notorious stiff-arming of the league’s elite.
Let’s take a look at the best Derrick Henry stiff arms in his professional career.
Honorable Mention – Ronald Darby OT Stiff Arm
Derrick Henry had a crucial and critical stiff arm in a 2018 overtime game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
In terms of importance, there might not be a stiff arm in his career that was more subtle and important.
To set the tone for that clip, it was a 1st and 10 from midfield, Henry took a carry to the outside and matched up one-on-one against the Eagles cornerback Ronald Darby. After evading the tackle and nearly getting pushed back for a loss, Henry delivers a mean stiff arm and tosses Darby aside for an eight-yard gain.
That run changed the dynamic for the Titans in overtime as it electrified the offense as the Titans pulled off a last-second touchdown to beat the Eagles. It’s a difficult maneuver to land as Henry is running towards the sideline laterally while trying to stop to catch a fast Darby off guard.
The timing and force of the stiff arm tosses Darby to the side disgracefully. It’s a move that I am sure Eagles fans don’t enjoy, let alone Darby.
For any other player, this is a premier highlight in their highlight reel. However, Henry has put together so many impressive stiff arms, that this narrowly misses out on the top four.
4th Place – Double Stiff Arm
In Week 12 of the 2019 NFL season, the master stiff arm artist Derrick Henry was at it again. This time, against the Jaguars.
The second half monster Derrick Henry starts off in the third quarter with a huge 74-yard touchdown run to give the Titans a 21-3 lead against the Jags. Henry comes full force through the middle, breaking off some weak tackles, and explodes to the sidelines with two Jaguars chasing behind.
Jaguars safety Jarrod Wilson covers solid ground and gives Henry a little trouble. However, all it does is garner two consecutive stiff arms to the face, the second of which makes him fall as Henry scores a touchdown.
Henry is running full speed along the sideline and somehow jockeys with Wilson. The impressive part is that he gives a full-strength stiff arm, TWICE. It only seems like a minor inconvenience than a real danger as it doesn’t even seem to slow him down. Henry looks like a man swatting at an annoying fly.
Doing this against a division rival in front of a home crowd while scoring makes it just a little sweeter than his maneuver. After inexplicably losing against the Jags earlier in the season, the Titans got sweet revenge and a nice souvenir highlight to dangle in front of the Jaguars.
3rd Place – The Josh Norman Pushover
We just have to see this again.
Yea, the Titans don’t really gain much on this play. The run ends up being a modest four-yard gain at best, possibly a first down if offsetting penalties don’t negate the play.
But Henry makes a good, NFL cornerback look silly. It looks like a professional athlete against a fan in a jersey. It looks like a college recruit against a freshman on the JV team. Honestly, it looks like a child tossing away a ragdoll.
What makes this nastier is that in all honesty, it probably wasn’t even necessary! Henry had position, size, and speed to outrun and get past Norman, who is much smaller than Henry to get a tackle off on him anyway.
Yet, Henry unleashed his entire fury on him. With one strike on the shoulder, Normal flies off to the side, legs flailing in the air. It’s a pure display of Henry’s strength and athleticism to put an NFL cornerback to shame like that.
It’s a move to strike fear not only against the Bills but all NFL defenders in the future. Come at your own peril.
2nd Place – Earl Thomas Twirl
This stiff arm made a generational talent in Safety Earl Thomas look straight up foolish.
After the Titans shocked the world by beating the Tom Brady-led Patriots in the Wild Card in last year’s playoffs, they played the AFC regular-season champs in the Baltimore Ravens. Before the game, Thomas had plenty to say.
To quote, Thomas said, “Guys didn’t seem they were too interested in tackling him. I think our mindset is a little different. We’re gonna try to tackle him, try to swarm, and we’re going to see how it plays out.”
Wow. Well, after the Titans got off to a hot start in a 14-3 lead against the Ravens, the offense had the ball midway through the second quarter when they handed Henry the ball. After a run up the middle, he jukes outside, breaking a tackle from Tyus Bowser. As he approaches the sideline, Thomas comes to attempt to tackle him.
Keyword being attempt. Thomas tries to go high on Henry, who subsequently sticks his hand out and pushes him away. It’s so disorienting to an All-Pro safety that it turns him fully around as he wasn’t prepared to get manhandled by Henry. But Henry isn’t through as he gets another push on the back just to stick it to Thomas.
It was a defining play in the game in which the Titans pulled off another huge victory on the path to the AFC Championship game. The Ravens defensive leader was just bullied on the field by Henry after he tried to discredit Henry and even Ryan Tannehill. It set the tone for the Titans and quieted the Ravens as they looked towards the clock and realized they still had more than half a game of Henry left.
1st place – Henry vs Jacksonville Kittens
It’s honestly one of the best plays I have ever seen. Just to set the scene, the Titans are pinned at the 1-yard line. It’s the second quarter and while the Titans are up 7-2, the team just wants to get out of their own endzone to give the offense some space. In comes Derrick Henry.
What. A. God.
Derrick Henry pulls out FOUR stiff arms en route to a 99-yard touchdown. What Henry pulls out here is not just a miracle, it’s unheard of. No one does this in the NFL. He knocks down A.J. Bouye with a mean to-the-face stiff arm that completely takes him out of the play.
He then pulls out TWO stiff arms against Leon Jacobs. Henry hasn’t done the two stiff arms against one player once in his career, he has done it multiple times! The second stiff arm is otherworldly. After the first one only slows down Jacobs, he uses the second one to swing Jacobs around and tosses him aside.
I have no idea how Henry keeps his speed and balance while tossing a massive linebacker. Jacobs is behind Henry to his right side but ends up to the left side of Henry after he drags him up in front and throws him to the side.
Henry is nearly doing this with no blockers in front of him. Only Corey Davis is able to add marginal blocking in front of him.
After tossing Jacobs, Henry then faces his last obstacle in Myles Jack, who also makes the mistake of going high on Henry. Henry sticks an arm in his chest and just sheds him like its nothing.
It’s incredible. It’s godly. Henry unleashed all his powers and strength against the Jaguars. He made them look like house cats against a fierce lion. It’s unquestionably the best stiff arm and best highlight of Derrick Henry’s career. It’s one of the best runs I have ever seen. Lucky for Titans fans that we have King Henry on our side.