Titans' Derrick Henry 'man on a mission,' stakes claim as workhorse running back

KANSAS CITY – Derrick Henry laid on the turf as the crowd erupted in cheers, red fireworks encircling Arrowhead Stadium after linebacker Derrick Johnson scooped his fumble and returned it 56 yards for what appeared to be the go-ahead touchdown inside the two-minute warning.

But Henry had no doubt that he was down by contact. And the play, in fact, was overturned on review.

“I knew I was down. I wasn’t worried about that,” Henry said. “They can yell, scream, hoot and holler, but that ball’s coming right back where it was.”

Henry had a career-high 156 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, an average of 6.8 yards per touch, and helped salt away the Titans’ 22-21 playoff victory against the Chiefs on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium, staking his claim as the Titans' lead back for the remainder of the playoffs and perhaps years to come.

Henry is expected to start for a third consecutive game when the Titans visit the Patriots in the divisional playoffs on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium, Titans coach Mike Mularkey said. DeMarco Murray is considered "day-to-day" with a right knee injury.

Henry set a franchise playoff record with 191 total yards from scrimmage against the Chiefs, according to pro-football-reference.com. His 156 rushing yards were second only to Eddie George, who had 162 rushing yards on 29 carries in a 19-16 playoff victory against the Colts on Jan. 16, 2000.

Two plays after Henry's would-be fumble, quarterback Marcus Mariota blocked linebacker Frank Zombo to spring Henry for a 22-yard gain and first down, and three Mariota kneels later, the Titans’ victorious sideline poured onto the field, celebrating the franchise’s first playoff victory in 14 years.

Henry’s 35-yard touchdown run trimmed the Titans’ deficit to 21-16 with 14:08 left in the fourth quarter, as the Titans rallied from 18 points down. Henry had 42 yards on 10 carries at halftime. He had 114 yards on 13 carries after the break.

Mariota said it wasn’t difficult to stick with the running game, despite trailing 21-3 at halftime.

“Not at all,” Mariota said. “I thought the coaches did a great job of explaining the situations, keeping to the game plan, not wavering at all, and Derrick and those guys up front, even the receivers just creating space, that’s what I thought really helped us on offense.”

The 6-foot-3, 247-pound Henry, a second-year pro who won the Heisman Trophy at Alabama, said he didn’t stop thinking about how he ran “soft” during the Titans’ playoff-clinching 15-10 victory against the Jaguars in the regular season finale on New Year’s Eve at Nissan Stadium, his first game as the team’s featured running back. He finished that game with 51 rushing yards on 28 carries, and added a 66-yard touchdown on a screen pass.

More: Titans can't be predictable at Kansas City, and Derrick Henry can't be 'soft'

“I just wanted to have a better performance than I had last week,” Henry said. “I wasn’t really happy with that. (I wanted to) just go out there, run hard, run north and south, finish forward. I had a lot of negative plays last week.”

Henry thought about his performance from the time the clock read zeroes against the Jags up through kickoff Saturday, when he started for the second consecutive game in place of Murray.

Murray, who turns 30 in February, is coming off the worst regular season of his career and has no guaranteed money remaining on his contract, according to overthecap.com.

Henry's previous career high was 131 rushing yards on 19 carries in a victory against the Colts earlier this season on “Monday Night Football.”

“Big runs, big plays,” Mularkey said. “I think he was a man on a mission to get his chance and opportunity and now he gets another one. Again, I just think the more he is playing the more experience is good for him.”

Reach Jason Wolf at jwolf@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter at @JasonWolf and on Instagram and Snapchat at TitansBeat.