Steelers brace for ‘height, weight, speed’ of bruising Titans RB Derrick Henry

They faced a former Pro Bowl running back during each of the first three weeks of the season, and the Pittsburgh Steelers emerged with the NFL’s No. 1 rushing defense. But in Week 4, the Steelers’ defense is faced with its biggest challenge yet.

Literally.

The 6-foot-3, 247-pound Derrick Henry looms for the Steelers when they face the Tennessee Titans.

“Shoot – height, weight, speed,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of Henry, a former Heisman Trophy winner who has been clocked with 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash. “This is a big, big man who has a run demeanor that’s different than others we faced that make him unique.

“He needs no endorsement from me. He’s got a highlight reel a mile long over the last several years that really exhibits some of the things that we are talking about and concerned about in preparation.”

Henry was good but not great for his first 3 ½ seasons since the Titans took him in the second round of the 2016 draft. But something clicked toward the end of last season, when the big man went on a tear and carried Tennessee into the playoffs and all the way to the AFC championship game.

Buoyed by 182- and 195-yard games in the playoffs against New England and Baltimore that made him a league-wide star, Henry has 1,661 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns over his past 12 games (including the postseason) dating to November 2019. The Titans have won 10 of those 12 games.

“Henry is a big back with prolific speed,” Steelers defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt said. “Our goal is to be able stop him before he gets going.

“They have a good offensive line that moves people. They’re people-movers – and once people get moved, he does a really good job of hitting those holes with that attacking speed.”

The Steelers limited the New York Giants’ Saquon Barkley to 6 rushing yards on 15 carries in the season opener, they held the Denver Broncos’ Melvin Gordon to 70 yards on 19 carries the following week and the Houston Texans’ David Johnson to a 1.8-yard average on his 13 carries during a victory this past Sunday.

As a team, the Steelers have allowed 162 rushing yards against in three games; they lead the NFL in yards against per game by a margin of almost 13 yards.

“We already went against really good backs,” Tuitt said, “and this is another back we have the opportunity to go against to test our run defense. But we’ve been prepared for this since the start of training camp.”

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