Carson Wentz, Derrick Henry Headline Star-Studded,…

1. Inside the Colts’ efforts to slow down Derrick Henry – again.

The Titans are 22-3 when Derrick Henry rushes for over 100 yards – including in Week 3, when Henry rushed for 113 yards on 28 carries in the Titans’ 25-16 win over the Colts in Nashville.

But let’s look at this another way: The Titans have lost 13 games since the start of the 2019 season. Henry had over 100 rushing yards in just three of those losses.

The Colts’ goal for every game is to hold opponents to under 100 rushing yards and fewer than 3.7 yards per carry. That doesn’t change based on the opponent. But to accomplish that goal against Henry requires a particular level of focus, hustle and physicality.

“Any time we play the Titans we make a big emphasis on 11 versus one,” defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. “We gotta gang tackle, we gotta knock him sideways or backwards and that’s how we approach every game in the run game, but obviously Derrick Henry, he’s a different type of guy and different type of back. He’s a big back so we gotta make an emphasis on tackling low, for the guys in the back end getting the leg up and the hamstring tackling and gang-tackling. I feel like we’ve been doing a pretty good job getting bodies on him.”

Buckner’s right – the Colts did a good job against Henry in Week 3, even if he still had more than 100 yards. Guys like Kenny Moore II did a tremendous job bringing Henry down by his legs, which carries the risk of a powerful stiff-arm that’ll land the recipient on a highlight reel.

And while someone like Moore plays close to the line of scrimmage (his average depth of tackle, per PFF, was about a yard beyond the line of scrimmage), bringing Henry down requires plenty of support from off-ball safeties and cornerbacks.

“I don’t think that we have any issues in the back end when it comes to tackling anybody,” linebacker Darius Leonard said. “I believe in them and everybody in this organization believes in them. So, there is no fear, there’s no quit and we’re going to make sure we get him down.”