ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Derrick Henry is an optical illusion.
He’s too large to be that fast, too powerful to be so slithery.
“Shoot, what is he, 6-4, 260?” asked Buffalo Bills defensive tackle DaQuan Jones.
No, Henry is only 6-foot-2 and 247 pounds, and that’s massive enough. But it’s easy to assume the Baltimore Ravens tailback is even bigger and sleeker than he truly is when we watch him trample defenders, slice through tiny openings and defy our preconceptions of time and space.
Henry has been larger than life again this season. The Bills must cut him down to size Sunday night in Highmark Stadium, or their Super Bowl quest will collapse.
“The main thing,” said Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard, “is just getting all 11 guys to the ball. … We’ve all got to get there and rally and swarm to the ball. That’s the mindset every week, but especially with somebody like him.”
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Sounds simple, but not when you realize Henry alternately is a vapor and a sledgehammer. He makes tacklers hesitate and overthink on approach, and within that blink he will woosh right by.
All was on display in Week 4, when Henry had his way with Buffalo’s defense in M&T Stadium. On Baltimore’s first snap, he dashed 87 yards off right tackle for a touchdown. He finished with 24 carries for 199 yards and a touchdown and three receptions for 10 yards and another touchdown.
Buffalo didn’t have Bernard, linebacker Matt Milano or nickelback Taron Johnson for the whole game. Bills safety Taylor Rapp suffered a concussion while trying to tackle Henry in the second quarter and has been wearing a guardian cap over his helmet since.
Imagery of King Henry’s performance in Baltimore’s 35-10 victory is a significant reason Buffalo opened as the betting favorite Sunday but now is a home playoff underdog for the first time since the 1967 AFL title game.
“If we’re talking about people like T.J. Watt or Aaron Donald, those guys have a fear factor,” Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips said. “Opponents get beat even before they get to the game. You watch their film sometimes and see they win on some bulls— that nobody else in the league would ever win on because people are scared of them as generational talents.
“Derrick Henry’s the same way. You won’t see somebody like him again for a long time. He has a legend to him.”
On any given play in the Ravens’ cushy playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers last Saturday, at least seven defenders appeared to have zero interest in tackling him.
The concept of 11 swarming tacklers? The Steelers didn’t seem interested in that kind of work.
“Not everybody is,” Bills linebacker Dorian Williams said.
“Sometimes,” Jones added about the Steelers’ effort, “it’s more of a business decision than it is anything else.”
Derrick Henry didn’t have much trouble against the Steelers last week, rushing for 186 yards. (Mitch Stringer / Imagn Images)
Perhaps enchanted by Henry’s mystique or maybe they merely sought the easy way out, the Steelers were timid. Guys who are paid to tackle bailed, vacillated, waited for a teammate to get there first. Henry carried 26 times for 186 yards. One of his two touchdowns traveled 44 yards.
“He is moving a lot faster than he looks,” Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “That’s probably what really messes up the corners when he hits the edge, messes up the linebackers, and then his arms are … He is a specimen of a build.
“You kind of think you can tackle him, and sometimes it works, but if he stiff-arms you, it’s just different. He’s definitely one-of-one, but I think the visual and what’s actually happening doesn’t really match up. It’s, like, ‘Oh, I have a perfect angle.’ Then he gets around you. ‘Oh, I can tackle him right here.’”
Humphrey singled out a vicious stiff-arm Henry delivered to Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick’s mug in the first quarter. Henry took a direct snap and broke into the secondary. He didn’t grab the facemask, but popped his palm right on Fitzpatrick’s jaw on the 34-yard gain into the red zone.
“Out of nowhere, just a stiff arm to the face, and it’s a strong stiff arm,” Humphrey said. “It’s more of a punch. It might should be illegal.”
Some wondered if Henry was over the hill just a few months ago. The Tennessee Titans released him at the end of his eighth season with them. The Ravens signed the two-time rushing champ to a relatively modest two-year, $16 million contract, and Henry has repaid them exponentially.
He rushed for 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns, which tied Bills tailback James Cook for the NFL lead. Henry’s yardage total was second to Philadelphia Eagles tailback Saquon Barkley, but Henry averaged more per carry.
Henry, who turned 31 two weeks ago, also led the league with 42 broken tackles. He rushed for an astounding 909 yards after contact. But even if he had been tackled on the spot he was first touched every time, he still would have ranked 16th in rushing, one spot ahead of Cook.
When it comes to tackling Henry, technique and talent are insufficient. An attitude is required.
“When you’re playing a team like this, an offense like this, you’ve got to have another gear that you can tap into,” Bernard said.
In addition to the Bills’ healthier defensive personnel, coach Sean McDermott also could deviate from their nickel base to a 4-3 scheme, putting an extra linebacker on the field. That would be Williams, who started in Week 4 alongside Baylon Spector.
Asked how we would handle the task Sunday if asked, Williams laughed.
“You can’t be scared of it,” Williams said. “Buddy, you’ve got to go in there and get chest-to-chest. Get him down whatever way you think you can.
“Get his ass down.”
(Top photo: Charles Brock / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
