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          NFL Nation

          Derrick Henry bounces back with 215 yards to keep Titans on course for playoffs

          • Turron Davenport, ESPNDec 13, 2020, 09:16 PM
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              Turron Davenport covers the Tennessee Titans for ESPN. Turron is a former collegiate football player at Cheyney University and is a native of Philadelphia, and he has authored/co-authored four books. You can catch Turron on ESPN Radio on his show "Talking with TD" and you can follow him on Twitter: @TDavenport_NFL.
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          NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Derrick Henry continued his dominance against his hometown Jacksonville Jaguars and carried the Tennessee Titans to a 31-10 win on Sunday. The Jaguars simply couldn't stop Henry, who rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns.

          The Titans needed a convincing win to get back on track after losing to the Cleveland Browns last week. The win pushes the Titans to 9-4 and gives them their fourth win over an AFC South opponent. Tennessee holds the No. 4 seed in the AFC playoff standings.

          This game was the fourth time in his career Henry has posted at least 200 rushing yards and two touchdowns, which is the most in NFL history. Two of Henry's four 200-yard rushing games have now come against the Jaguars. Henry turned in his ninth consecutive 100-yard rushing game on the road, the second-longest streak in NFL history behind Hall of Famer Barry Sanders' 10-game run between 1996 and 1997.

          Henry broke the game open in the second quarter when he got to the outside and outran the Jaguars defense for a 36-yard touchdown run. His 47-yard scamper in the third quarter set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill to Geoff Swaim to make the score 24-3. Four minutes later, Henry punched it in from the 1-yard line for the Titans final score.

          The big day is a bounce-back performance for Henry after only averaging 3.4 yards per carry in his Week 2 matchup against the Jaguars when he finished with 84 rushing yards. Over the past two seasons, Henry has experienced pretty significant rebound games in the second game against Jacksonville after being corralled in the first matchup.

          In 2019, Henry had 17 rushes for 44 yards and a touchdown in his first game against the Jaguars but picked up 159 yards and two touchdowns on 19 rushes in the second meeting. Henry scored four touchdowns on the ground and picked up a career-high 238 rushing yards including an NFL-record 99-yard touchdown run in the second meeting against his hometown team in 2018 after he only rushed for 57 yards in their first game.

          Eye-popping NextGen Stat: Henry hit 21.4 miles per hour on his 47-yard run in the third quarter. That is Henry's second-fastest run this season. His top speed was 21.6 mph which came on a 94-yard touchdown run against the Houston Texans in Week 6.

          Pivotal play: The Titans opened the scoring with a 37-yard TD connection from Tannehill to A.J. Brown, who finished with seven catches for 112 yards, on a flea-flicker. Tannehill placed the ball perfectly for Brown to snap out of the air with one hand while Jaguars CB Sidney Jones was in coverage. The TD came on the Titans' opening drive a few plays after the defense blocked a 53-yard field goal attempt. Tennessee needed a fast start after their disgraceful start last week against the Browns.