Colts haven’t had an answer for Derrick Henry in recent games

Kevin Hickey

Fri, Oct 29, 2021, 12:04 PM·2 min read

The Indianapolis Colts are a team known to have a pretty stout run defense over the last two seasons but when it comes to stopping Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, they haven’t had an answer.

While most teams fall into that category of not being able to stop “The King,” the Colts have been horrid in recent memory. Henry has gone over 100 rushing yards in each of the last four games against the Colts and hasn’t had under 5.1 yards per carry more than once in that span.

Just for a visual effect, these are the last four games between Henry and the Colts:

Year	Week	Attempts	Yards	Y/A	TD
2019	12	26	149	5.7	1
2020	9	19	103	5.4	0
2020	11	27	178	6.6	3
2021	3	28	113	4.0	0

The Colts simply have not been able to stop Henry. An argument can be made that some of the numbers get inflate because three of those four games have resulted in wins for the Titans. When a team is winning, they are going to run more.

However, Henry can be viewed as the outlier to that narrative. Most running backs have stats that are byproducts of their team winning. When it comes to Henry, his stats are much more impactful on the outcome of games for the Titans.

And the Colts simply haven’t had an answer over the last three seasons. If they want to make good on being the favorites this week, though, they will need to find a way to get the job done against the league’s leading rusher.

“I think it’s 11 guys on the field have to do a great job of playing team defense. Again, you’re exactly right. You don’t reinvent the wheel,” said defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. “It’s about playing fundamentally sound, it’s about angles, it’s about tackling and it’s about playing to your responsibility given each defensive call. We have that mindset, the guys have that mindset and we’re excited to get to work this week.”

Teams have been constantly trying to find an answer for Henry but have failed to do so. The Colts have been a strong unit against the run but will once against be tested by The King in what is a very important game on Sunday.

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