NASHVILLE, Tenn (WKRN) – The Titans have been given plenty of bulletin board material throughout the playoffs.
Just about 99 percent of analysts tasked with breaking down the playoffs have picked against the Titans week in and week out.
There are no real statistics to track this, but I would go as far as to say there is almost a full day’s worth, 24 hours, of video of people counting the Titans out.
The last thing you want to do as an opponent is to add fuel to the Titans raging bonfire created by proving doubters wrong.
Ahead of the Divisional Round, Ravens defensive back Earl Thomas was asked about the Patriots’ struggles with tackling the NFL’s rushing king.
“Those guys didn’t seem too interested in tackling him. I think our mindset is a little different,” Thomas said of their confidence in slowing down Derrick Henry.
Not only did Henry run for five shy of 200 yards in Baltimore, but on one particular run, he managed to stiff-arm Thomas and, with one hand, push him down the field as his lead blocker.
So, you would think the Chiefs would learn from Thomas’s mistake.
“He’s not that hard to hit. He’s just a big guy. Honestly, he should be running harder at his weight and size. I see no difficulty in tackling him,” said Chiefs defensive tackle Frank Clark.
Henry ran for 188 yards and two touchdowns when the Titans and Chiefs met in Week 10.
Clark doubled-down on his bold statement, too.
“He’s not one of the best guys at breaking tackles to me honestly.”
Not only is that an extremely uncommon observation made when watching Henry run, but it’s factually untrue.
The back leads the league in yards after contact. Nearly 85% of his yards come after initial contact.
How are the Chiefs at handling runners similar to Henry in their ability to collect YAC in excess? They are the fourth-worst team in the league at it.
Yikes.