In the span of seven days, the Houston Texans will go from facing the 5-8, 185-pound Phillip Lindsay to the 6-3, 247-pound Derrick Henry, of the Tennessee Titans.
Lindsay and the Denver Broncos beat the Texans. He rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown in a 38-24 route that isn’t entirely depicted in the score. Despite the Broncos winning, Houston did a good job against Lindsay, as he rushed for 3.2 yards per attempt.
On Sunday, the Texans will look to limit Henry, just as they did to Lindsay. That’s easier said than done.
“He’s hard to stop. He is a big back, physical back. He’s a good player. He’s big, he’s physical, he’s got good vision,” said coach Bill O’Brien on Monday. “They throw him the ball out of the backfield, he’s hard to tackle.”
If the Texans were to, theoretically, limit Henry’s production, they would be the first since the Broncos in Week 6. Since Denver limited him to 28 rush yards on 15 attempts, Henry has tallied 827 ground yards and nine touchdowns on 137 attempts (6.0 yards per carry).
Henry has 1,243 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season while running for 5.0 yards per attempt. He also has 18 receptions for 206 yards and two touchdowns. A Heisman Trophy winner out of Alabama, the Titans’ bell-cow back is a nightmare to defend.
How will the Texans do so? By building a wall.
“You’ve got to set the edge and build a wall. That’s what we’re going to try to do,” said O’Brien.
With the thriving quarterback Ryan Tannehill under center and Henry running angrily, the Titans have won their last four and five of their previous six. If the Texans want to end their winning ways, stopping the run-game, via building a wall, will be one of their top priorities.
The Texans, before Monday Night Football, rank as the NFL’s 18th-best run defense, allowing 109.5 yards per game.
