Henry Now Giving Chase in Rushing Race

The NFL's 2019 champ slips to second due to a pedestrian performance against Chicago combined with Dalvin Cook's recent surge.

Derrick Henry hit a bit of a wall Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

While the Tennessee Titans snapped their two-game losing streak and improved to 6-2 with a 24-17 victory, Henry mustered only 68 rushing yards on 21 carries. As a result, the NFL’s 2019 rushing champion, who seemed to have control of the rushing title race, fell to second place behind Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook.

Cook has been on a tear in the last two weeks. He ran for 163 yards on 30 attempts in the Vikings’ Week 8 victory over the Green Bay Packers and followed that up with a single-game high 206 rushing yards on 22 attempts in a victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Cook has registered 100 rushing yards or more in four of his last five games to take the lead in the race.

The 2020 rushing title race is now a two-horse race. The other running backs in the top five trail both Cook and Henry by more than 250 yards.

THE TOP FIVE

Dalvin Cook: Leads the league with 858 yards on 144 attempts in seven contests. He has three of the top six individual rushing performances of the season, and his performance against the Lions is second only to Henry’s 212 yards against Houston.

Derrick Henry: Stood alone atop the rushing title race for a few weeks, but now is playing catch-up. The 2019 rushing champion has 843 yards on 182 carries. Henry will need to keep pace with the red-hot Cook to keep a second consecutive rushing crown within reach.

Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders: In third place with 588 rushing yards. Jacobs had his best game of the season in Week 8 against the Cleveland Browns, when he ran for 129 yards on 31 carries. On Sunday, he did enough to stay in the top five as he registered 65 yards on 14 rushes.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Kansas City Chiefs: Is in the top five for now, but it doesn’t look like it will last much longer. After rushing for 161 yards on 26 carries in a win against the Buffalo Bills in Week 6, the rookie has not received any more than eight carries per game. He had just five for 14 yards on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

Todd Gurley, Atlanta Falcons: Gurley has put together a respectable season. He is in fifth place with 584 yards on 159 carries. Watch for him to pass Edwards-Helaire sooner rather than later.

Others: James Robinson (Jacksonville Jaguars), Ezekiel Elliott (Dallas Cowboys), Kyler Murray (quarterback, Arizona Cardinals)

NEXT FOR HENRY, COOK

It will not get any easier for Henry when the Titans play the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night at Nissan Stadium. The Colts have the NFL’s best defense and rank third against the run. They have given up the second fewest rushing yards in the league (669) and have held opposing rushers 83.6 yards per game on average.

Cook has a more favorable matchup, but not by much. In Week 10, the Vikings face off against the Bears, who successfully slowed down Henry on Sunday. Chicago’s defense, which ranks in the top half of the league against the run, has given up roughly 116 rushing yards per game.