Eric Dickerson suspects he knows exactly what the average defensive back is thinking when confronted with the decision to square up on 247-pound running back Derrick Henry in the open field.
“You see those DBs and you can read their minds,” Dickerson told USA TODAY Sports. “They’re like, ‘Aw, hell naw! Don’t put me on no highlight tape.’ ”
Dickerson, the 64-year-old Hall of Famer who owns the NFL’s single-season rushing record set in 1984 with 2,105 yards, didn’t hesitate when asked to identify his favorite running back in today’s NFL.
Sure, King Henry, now smashing for the Baltimore Ravens, is an easy pick. Especially now. He led the NFL with 572 rushing yards after five weeks, averaging 6 yards per carry, and heads into the Battle of the Beltway against Washington on Sunday having just become a new member of the league’s 10,000-yard rushing club.
Teamed with Lamar Jackson, the NFL’s most prolific quarterback runner, Henry has demonstrated why so many teams whiffed on making a run at him during the offseason in free agency after he and the Tennessee Titans split following an eight-year partnership.
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That includes you, Jerry Jones, as Henry, living in Dallas, was hoping to get a call from the Dallas Cowboys, who could surely use him about now. Jones said after Henry steamrolled the Cowboys for 151 yards and 2 TDs in Week 3, that his salary cap-strapped team couldn’t afford Henry. But that point is debatable, especially for an owner who declared his team was “all in” for chasing that elusive championship.
In any event, the Ravens signed Henry, 30, to a two-year, $16 million deal that could be worth $20 million with incentives. And now Baltimore (3-2), riding a three-game winning streak, again fields the NFL’s No. 1-ranked rushing attack.
“I thought it would be them or the Cowboys,” Dickerson said. “I’m not a Cowboys fan, but they don’t run the ball like Baltimore does. Most definitely, that’s a perfect fit for him.”
In some ways, Henry reminds Dickerson of himself.
“Not in a lot of ways,” Dickerson said. “The way he runs when he gets in the open field, he runs upright. That, for sure. He’s a big guy, a real big guy. I’m a big guy.”
Dickerson, who stands 6-3, was a bit sleeker, and his playing weight maxed out at 225 pounds. He chuckled when recalling the first time he met Henry, also listed at 6-3, albeit with more bulk.
“I was like, ‘Damn, you’re big!” Dickerson said. “Big legs, calves, all the way down.”
And when that package gets a head of steam – Henry has ripped off an NFL-high seven runs of at least 20 yards this season – the combination of power and speed can be demoralizing for an opposing defense. Henry opened the Week 4 victory against the Buffalo Bills with an 87-yard TD jaunt. Last weekend at Cincinnati, he provided the closing punch as he ripped off a 51-yard run in overtime that set up Justin Tucker’s game-winning field goal – and put him in the 10,000-yard club.
“People don’t realize it, they think those 2- and 5-yard runs don’t mean a lot,” Dickerson said. “But on a defense, it takes a toll on them. And all of a sudden that 5-yard run becomes a 15-yard run. That 10-yard run becomes a 50-yard touchdown run. Because the defense gets tired of chasing.
“They’re like, ‘I’ve got to fight off these offensive linemen, then I’ve got to run this guy down. Now I’ve got to go rush the passer. Now I’ve got to try to tackle him again.’ ”
The physicality of Henry’s game surely resonates with Dickerson, who ranks ninth on the NFL’s all-time rushing list with 13,259 yards. To illustrate his point, Dickerson flashed back to a conversation with some other credible voices – fellow Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor, Bruce Smith and Rickey Jackson.
“We had this discussion,” Dickerson remembers. “I said, ‘Let me ask y’all a question: How would you like to play in a game where you didn’t have a running back run the ball one time – no runs, just passing?’ All of them said, ‘Man, we would love that.’
“They get tired chasing running backs. That wears ‘em down.”
It’s no wonder that Henry can be even more lethal as the games go on. Through five games, he averaged 8.2 yards in the third quarter and logged more carries in the fourth quarter (26) than in any quarter.
“I’ve always liked big backs,” Dickerson said. “I guess because I was a big back. Especially when it comes to putting punishment out in that fourth quarter, when it’s a good defense and you’re big and strong, too. That’s when he is most effective. You see the DBs don’t want to tackle him, and the linebackers don’t want to tackle him, either.”
Weathering the storm
When the Buccaneers took two chartered jets from Tampa to New Orleans on Tuesday due to the threat of Hurricane Milton, the traveling party totaled approximately 350 players, coaches, staff and family members – and 32 pets.
“There were big dogs, small dogs, cats,” Bucs spokesman Nelson Luis said. “I’ve never seen that many pets together, so well-behaved.”
It was that type of a bonding flow for the Bucs, preparing for the NFC South matchup on Sunday against the arch-rival Saints. Luis compared logistics to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. The team practiced at Tulane University and, due to a weekend convention, had to switch hotels from the Hyatt to the JW Marriott later in the week. Team meetings, meanwhile, were held at the Ritz-Carlton.
“Most of (the players) have their families here with them, so that’s a big relief for them, and they’re able to focus on football,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles told reporters.
Bowles said the Bucs also employed lessons from the last time the team had to evacuate, in 2022, when they fled to Miami due to Hurricane Ian.
“Learning from that, we’re a little bit more organized as far as when we meet, how we meet, when the families eat and putting everybody (together),” Bowles said. “I don’t want to say easier, but it was a little more structured.”
Families were included for many of the team meals. Activities, including a trip to the zoo, were organized for the kids.
The Bucs owners, the Glazer family, deserve credit for responding to the crisis. Hotels were also secured in Gainesville, Florida, for family members who didn’t travel to New Orleans. With the storm knocking out power for an estimated 70% of Tampa-area homes, the team is arranging for contingency accommodations to be available after the Bucs return home following the game on Sunday.
The Bucs have back-to-back home games on the docket for the next two weeks, with a Monday night showcase against the Ravens on Oct. 21 followed six days later by another NFC South tilt against the Falcons.
Upon further review, hurry up and show the HD video!
For all the NFL has done to tighten its process for getting it right on instant replay reviews – including the time-saving use of “replay assist” that corrects calls without being prompted by a challenge from coaches – a limitation was exposed on Thursday night, when officials at the league’s replay command center didn’t see the definitive video of a muffed Seahawks punt return until it was too late.
Early in the fourth quarter, with the 49ers leading 23-17, San Francisco recovered the football that glanced off the hand of Seahawks returner Dee Williams. Officials ruled that Williams didn’t touch the football and that the 49ers downed it at the Seattle 18-yard line, which drew a challenge from 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.
“I thought they’d have a bunch of camera angles,” Shanahan said, prompted to throw his red challenge flag after a 49ers staffer saw a replay that showed Williams’ hand move after the ball bounced off the turf in his vicinity.
The replay officials, though, never saw the enhanced video that Amazon showed after referee Craig Wrolstad announced that the ruling on the field stood.
“About two minutes later I heard all the guys in the (coaches) box freaking out, saying they saw another angle and it was a fumble,” Shanahan added.
Mark Butterworth, the NFL’s vice president for instant replay, explained the mishap to a pool reporter.
“We went through all the available angles, and we get the raw feed from the truck,” Butterworth said. “And there was not clear and obvious video evidence that the returner touched the ball.”
It came down to timing. The officials in New York didn’t get the best video. But as good as the NFL has been in instituting a reliable system that in recent years has improved efficiency in ruling with replay reviews, it’s also a horrible look when millions viewing on the livestream can see what was not seen in the command center.
The NFL got lucky this time. The blunder didn’t cost the 49ers the game, as they went on to secure a 36-24 victory. But it was such a critical play that allowed the Seahawks to retain possession with the chance to drive for a potential go-ahead score.
Maybe here’s the takeaway lesson: In the future, someone in the replay center should be assigned to watch the broadcast or livestream. Just in case. Just like the 49ers staffer saw it.
Quick slants
Steelers dynamo T.J. Watt, the only player to lead the NFL in sacks three times, notched his 100th career sack on Sunday night in his 109th game. That makes Watt the second-fastest to reach the milestone surpassing DeMarcus Ware’s pace (113 games). Reggie White hit the mark in 96 games.
The Titans have allowed just 243.8 yards per game with the NFL’s top-ranked defense and head into the matchup against the Colts on Sunday as one of two teams (along with the Chargers) yet to allow a 300-yard passer, 100-yard rusher or 100-yard receiver this season.
Lamar Jackson is 8 yards shy of surpassing Cam Newton (5,628) for the second-most career rushing yards by a quarterback. Michael Vick set the bar with 6,109 yards, a mark that the Ravens star might top in a matter of weeks.