The good news for the Tennessee Titans in Week 8 is that they beat the Colts 34-31 in overtime, and put themselves at the one-seed position in the AFC at 6-2. The bad news, of course, is that they lost running back Derrick Henry for anywhere from 6-10 weeks to a foot injury. This wouldn’t be an epic disaster for most teams in the “running backs don’t matter” era, but Henry matters to the Titans as no other back does in today’s NFL, and there’s no way to replace what he does on the field.
It starts on first down, where Henry was the NFL’s leader on the ground in every possible capacity — 131 attempts for 639 yards, seven touchdowns, and a 4.9 yards per carry average. When you’re giving your offense an average of second-and-5.1, it makes a lot more of the playbook available to you. That’s gone, as is Henry’s role as a finisher. In the fourth quarter and overtime this season, Henry led the league in carries (64), yards (318), yards after contact (214), and touchdowns (five). Henry both set up and completed Tennessee’s offense, and without him, the Titans will have to re-evaluate their entire offensive roster, and offensive coordinator Todd Downing really has a job ahead of him.
That journey starts Sunday night, when the Titans have to face the Rams at SoFi Stadium. It’s a bad week to be without the guy who defines your offense. The Rams rank ninth in Defensive DVOA this season, and 18th against the run, so there are opportunities, but anytime you’re facing Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey and possibly Von Miller… well, that’s a pretty decent test for an offense that will have to start from square one. Tennessee’s defense isn’t great, and the Rams have the most explosive passing game in the league, so that affects the picture, as well.
That’s not to say that the Titans’ 2021 outlook is hopeless without Henry; merely that Downing and the Titans’ coaching staff are really about to earn their salaries if they’re able to scheme and transcend their way around this. There are ways to make this happen.