After back-to-back monster performances, Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry came back down to Earth on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. However, he still delivered when his team needed him the most.
Baltimore received a new lease on life after Cincinnati kicker Evan McPherson missed what would’ve been the game-winning 53-yard field goal in overtime, and Henry didn’t let that second chance go to waste. On the very next play, Henry tore through the defense for a 51-yard run to get the Ravens down to the Bengals’ 6-yard line. One play after that, Justin Tucker kicked the game-winning 24-yard field goal to send the Ravens home with their third-straight win.
“[I saw] green grass; green grass and getting as close to the end zone as possible,” Henry told reporters after the game. “I didn’t get in [to the end zone]. I probably should have stiff-armed [the defender], but ‘Tuck,’ the G.O.A.T., he kicked the field goal to win the game, and we’re going home with a victory. That’s all that matters.”
Henry, finished the day with 15 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown, with most of that production coming in overtime. Not as prolific as his last two games, but it was a day of milestones nonetheless.
The former Offensive Player of the Year became the first player in franchise history to score a touchdown in each of his first five games with the team, but more importantly, surpassed 10,000 career rushing yards and scored his 100th total touchdown. If there was somehow any doubt about his future Hall of Fame chances, Henry erased it by joining two exclusive clubs in one game.
In the big picture, though, the win is what really matters to Henry, and he and the team got it by any means necessary.
“With this win, it’s big,” Henry said. “What transpired today, it puts us up two [wins over the Bengals] in the division, so we definitely needed this one. This was as important to us as it was for them, but [I’m] just glad we got the victory. With everything that happened, that just shows you the resiliency of this group and of this team, and we’re going to keep on fighting until the end.”