One Number Shows Titans' Commitment to the Run
NASHVILLE – The available personnel have changed from game to game. So have the results.
In one notable way, though, the Tennessee Titans’ run game has been inexplicably consistent.
In each of this season’s first four games the Titans have run the ball exactly 34 times. That has been the case with or without rookie running back Darrynton Evans, who missed the first two games with a hamstring injury and was placed on injured reserve this week. It was the case with or without fullback Khari Blasingame, who was returned to the active roster from the COVID-19 reserve list on Friday. And it was the case whether Derrick Henry received the lion’s share of those handoffs or just a clear majority.
“It's all the same, what I prepare my body for,” Henry said Friday. “Whatever I need to do to help this team win then that's what I got to do. You’ve just got to get your body right throughout the week and make sure you're ready to go on Sunday.”
Tennessee is the only team with at least 30 rushes in every game this season and currently ranks third in the NFL in average carries per contest. The difference between their best and worst rushing performances is 16 yards.
Over an entire season, 34 rushes per game amounts to 544, which would be the franchise high since 2000 (547 rushes).
“We pride ourselves on running the ball efficiently and doing it effectively, and I'm sure that defenses pay attention to that a lot,” Henry said. “… I need to be better in the run game, and overall. Really been focusing on that, but we pride ourselves on being efficient and making plays in the run game.”
A game-by-game look at the Tennessee Titans’ 2020 rushing statistics:
| Opponent | Rushes | Yards | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|
Denver | 34 | 130 | 0 |
Jacksonville | 34 | 123 | 0 |
Minnesota | 34 | 134 | 2 |
Buffalo | 34 | 139 | 3 |
Over his previous four NFL seasons, Henry did not know what to expect one week to the next. The same is true for others who have served as Tennessee’s primary running back.
In 2019 the Titans had 34 or more carries in just two games overall. The first was Week 4 against Atlanta and the second was in the regular season finale against Houston.
“As long as we can stay efficient and keep trying to improve,” offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said of the current state of the run game. “… That’s really where our mindset’s at.”
In the last decade, they have not had a season that included more than five games with at least 34 rushing attempts, and never did they do it four in a row – let alone the first four.
You have to go back to 2009, when Chris Johnson set the franchise record of 2,006 rushing yards and the Titans finished second in the NFL in rushing offense, to find the last time this franchise went four straight with 34 or more runs (five in a row, actually). Beginning in Week 6 that year, the offense ran it – in order – 36, 49, 34, 35 and 42 times respectively in a six-week span that included a bye.
This year they have gotten there with as many as 31 attempts from Henry (Denver) or as few as 19 (Buffalo). Seven different players have carried the ball at once.
To maintain the current pace has required a certain resolve. Tennessee is ninth in the NFL with an average of 131.5 rushing yards per game, but – at 3.9 yards per carry – the only one in the top 10 with an average of fewer than four yards per rush.
“I hope we have a bunch of 60-yard runs,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “If not, we'll just have to keep churning away and keep working and try to hit some home runs. … We'll get back to it. We’ve got a new challenge this week in playing the [Houston] Texans and hopefully we can find ways to run the football this week.”
