Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans is playing in MVP form and was once again the man of the match in the win against the Buffalo Bills. He himself remains humble and just wants to be “the best player and teammate I can be. “

Nashville – Derrick Henry was once again the “life insurance” of the Tennessee Titans. He literally ran all over the Buffalo Bills with a space gain of 156 total yards and three touchdowns.

“I just love playing here and trying to be the best player and teammate I can be,” he said after the game. “I just try to take my chances and make my plays. I’m ready to do whatever I can do to help my team win.”

The 27-year-old is almost unstoppable in his current form. After six days of play, he already has 783 rushing yards and ten touchdowns to his name. Both are NFL bests by a wide margin.

Best mark set by Priest Holmes

He has now run for at least 130 yards and three touchdowns in each of two straight games. Since 1950, only Priest Holmes had previously achieved this in 2004.

But that’s not all: in his six years in the NFL, Henry has scored a total of 65 touchdowns. He thus passed Eddie George in the franchise record list, who had a total of 64 touchdowns. Even the franchise-best mark of Earl Campbell, who recorded a total of 73 scores between 1978 and 1984, is likely to fall this season if his form remains consistent.  

“He’s the best player in the NFL right now,” James Jones of “NFL Network” says of Henry.

In this form, Henry could become the first running back since Adrian Peterson in 2012 to be named MVP. Only Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals might have a better chance at the award at quarterback as of today.

“We continue to jump on Derrick’s back and he’s ready and able to carry us,” head coach Mike Vrabel said. “You know you have his qualities in front of the pocket and behind the pocket and you can use them anytime. “

Derrick Henry: Running over 35 mph for a touchdown

The highlight of the game was the 76-yard touchdown run with which Henry provided the first touchdown of the game at the beginning of the second quarter. In doing so, he reached a speed of 35.08 km/h. The fastest measured by a ball carrier this season.

“With Derrick in the backfield, you do a little bit more on every play,” Titans centre Ben Jones said. “You never know what play it’s going to be in the game where all of a sudden he breaks through. That play definitely provided a spark for us. And the defense certainly responded by saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to stop him here.”‘

The Buffalo Bills’ defense is one of many in the NFL that has failed to do that. Henry rushed for 113 yards or more in each of the past five games this season.

He may be the main reason for the Tennessee Titans’ successful start to the season. But even independent of the running back, this is a team that has found itself and doesn’t let setbacks stop it easily.

The injury losses to cornerback Caleb Farley and left tackle Taylor Lewan, which occurred during the game, were easily compensated for. “It’s always unfortunate when guys go out of the game. But that’s why we train, that’s why we have a team, a wide squad. Other guys come in and do their part,” the coach said.

Tennessee now stands at a record of four wins and two losses. In the season opener they lost to the outstanding Arizona Cardinals, in Week 4 surprisingly also to the New York Jets. Otherwise, however, the team from Nashville leaves a stable impression.

Can the Kansas City Chiefs stop Henry?

“We feel like we can beat anybody in the league. Whether we do or not, we always have that mentality,” Vrabel said. “We will now prepare to face another excellent opponent next week.”

The team in question is last year’s Super Bowl participant Kansas City Chiefs, who will be the Titans’ guests on Sunday. Kansas City has allowed an average of 133.2 rushing yards per game so far – sixth fewest in the NFL.

That should make it all the more difficult to stop Henry.