There isn’t much football going on to write about right now, so you’ll excuse us if we indulge in a bit of what little is actually going on. Today, the Super Bowl representative from the AFC will be determined in game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tennessee Titans, the sixth seed who is the ‘Cinderella’ team of the year.
After taking out the New England Patriots and then the Baltimore Ravens, they could become one of the very rare teams to defeat the top three teams in their conference. Without looking it up, the only other team I’m aware of to have done that is the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2005.
If they do manage to take down the Chiefs, it will probably have a lot to do with Derrick Henry, the fourth-year running back who has been on a tear lately. He just became only the third player in NFL history to total 200 yards from scrimmage or more in three consecutive games, joining Walter Payton and Le’Veon Bell.
He has totaled over 600 yards on the ground with four rushing touchdowns going back to the regular season finale against the Houston Texans, which was basically a playoff game for them anyway. Which he didn’t hit 200 rushing yards on the past two games, he made up for it, just barely, on a few receptions, plus another touchdown.
Frank Clark, the edge defender for the Chiefs, however, was not impressed. “He’s not hard to hit”, he said of the big back. “Honestly, he should be running harder at his weight and at his size. I don’t see no difficulty in tackling him “. Perhaps he should review the footage of his stiff arm, at least.
“He’s just easy to me up front,” he went on, “because I don’t look at any running back like that can’t be tackled”.
There are some difference of opinion as to the nature, or even the existence, of ‘bulletin board material’; David DeCastro has seemingly acknowledged that it’s real. Vince Williams yesterday seemed to push back on it.
Either way, it’s reasonable to assume that Frank Clark will not have as easy a time tackling Derrick Henry as he seems to feel. And that’s not necessarily just because of Henry. The Titans also have a great run-blocking offensive line with a scheme that accentuates his strengths.
“He’s just a big body and when people look at him they’re scared to tackle him or they look at him and they’re scared to play aggressive”, Clark added. “I think I’m the aggressor. I know I am”.
He’ll get a chance to back that up this afternoon. It’ll be fun to see how that plays out or him.
