Gather ’round boys and girls. It’s time for a tale. Once upon a time, long before Derrick Henry wore the crown in Nashville, the Houston Oilers decided they’d move to Memphis. They became the Tennessee Oilers and, eventually, found their way to Nashville and became the Tennessee Titans.
That was wise. Tennessee Titans sounds better, and while much has changed over the years, two things remain constant.
One, the Oilers/Titans just seem to know how to find running backs (more on that in a few), and second, special and, sometimes, weird things happen when these two teams get together.
Those Oilers blew a 32-point second-half lead in the playoffs versus, ironically the Buffalo Bills. That was two days after the new year in 1993. Tennessee got some revenge seven years later, on January 8th of 2000 thanks to, shall we say, a miracle, a Music City Miracle to be exact.
Since that day, these two proud franchises haven’t met on the field for an important game all that often, but their recent tilt definitely qualifies. The final game of the NFL’s sixth week was the first time that the Titans had hosted a Monday Night Football game in about four years. As you might expect, something magical happened again.
Derrick Henry runs (pun intended) into Chris Johnson in the record books.
We mentioned earlier that the Titans have a tendency to find gifted running backs. We can safely say that this Derrick Henry guy is pretty good, but he’s one of a few great running backs that have spoiled Tennessee’s fan base.
Prior to Henry’s tenure, there was Chris Johnson aka CJ2K. He was preceded by a young man that you might have heard of, Eddie George. Heck, if you want to dip into Houston’s part of this story, you can ask your fathers and grandfathers about Earl Campbell.
Henry added another all-world performance to his resume in Week 6 versus a Bills team that may believe will represent the AFC in the next Super Bowl. He finished with 143 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries. He added another 13 receptions on two catches.
His first touchdown was a 76-yard jaunt. That’s the longest Titans play on offense this season. It also puts him in the record books alongside Chris Johnson. According to NFL Research, both have scored rushing touchdowns of 50+ yards 11 times. Only Adrian Peterson (16), Barry Sanders (15), and Jim Brown (12) have done so more often.
Oh, and how’s this for amazing? ESPN Stats and Info reports that he reached 21.8 miles per hour. That’s the fastest speed recorded by a ball carrier this season.