In his 100th NFL regular-season game on Sunday, Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry ran for 104 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries and caught four passes for 59 yards. But Henry’s efforts didn’t prevent the Titans from losing their fourth consecutive game when Los Angeles Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker made a 43-yard field goal with four seconds to play in a 17-14 setback for Tennessee.
Henry scored from the King Cat formation, taking a direct snap and running 4 yards to the end zone as Tennessee tied the game with 10:09 left in the first half. On the six-play, 63-yard TD drive, Henry accounted for all the yards with 26 yards on three carries and a 37-yard reception.
Henry has 77 rushing touchdowns, the sixth-most in NFL history for a player in his first 100 games in the Super Bowl era. Emmitt Smith has the most with 103, followed by LaDainian Tomlinson with 102, former Alabama star Shaun Alexander with 91, Adrian Peterson with 86 and Eric Dickerson with 80.
In his 100 regular-season games, Henry has 32 100-yard rushing performances. Tennessee now has a 26-6 record in those games, but it was the third 100-yard game in a row for Henry that the Titans have lost.
With a 7-yard run on the third snap of the game, Henry became the 54th NFL player with 8,000 rushing yards. Henry finished the game with 8,100 career rushing yards, and he’s the 17th player in NFL history to reach that figure in his first 100 games.
Tennessee dropped to 7-7 with the loss, but the Titans continue to hold the top spot in the AFC South. The division winner will host a game in the first round of the playoffs.
With three weeks left in the regular season, Tennessee’s lead is down to one game over the Jacksonville Jaguars, who upended the Dallas Cowboys 40-34 in overtime on Sunday to improve to 6-8. The Jaguars defeated the Titans 36-22 last week, and the teams will square off in the regular-season finale in Jacksonville on Jan. 8.
Henry was among the 33 former Alabama players who got on the field on the 15th Sunday of the NFL’s 103rd season.
Two other former Alabama players were involved in the Tennessee-Los Angeles game:
· Titans defensive end Da’Shawn Hand is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Chargers punter JK Scott averaged 41.6 yards on seven punts with a net average of 38.7 yards. Scott had a 42-yard punt for a fair catch at the Tennessee 37-yard line, a 39-yarder for a fair catch at the Tennessee 18, a 35-yarder that was muffed at the Tennessee 20 and recovered by the Titans at their 21, a 31-yarder for a fair catch at the Tennessee 13, a 45-yarder returned for no gain at the Tennessee 46, a 45-yarder for a touchback and a 54-yarder that went out of bounds at the Tennessee 26.
In the other Sunday games:
Pittsburgh Steelers 24, Carolina Panthers 16
· Bradley Bozeman (Handley) started at center for the Panthers.
· Panthers guard Deonte Brown (Austin) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
· Minkah Fitzpatrick started at free safety for the Steelers. Fitzpatrick made one tackle and broke up one pass.
· Najee Harris started at running back for the Steelers. Harris ran for 86 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries. Harris scored the first points of the game on a 7-yard run with 5:48 left in the first quarter.
· Steelers center J.C. Hassenauer played but did not record any stats.
· Levi Wallace started at left cornerback for the Steelers. Wallace made two tackles.
Philadelphia Eagles 25, Chicago Bears 20
· Landon Dickerson started at left guard for the Eagles. He made a tackle after an interception.
· Jalen Hurts started at quarterback for the Eagles. Hurts completed 22-of-37 passes for 315 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions and ran for 61 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries. Hurts scored on a 22-yard run as Philadelphia took a 10-6 lead with 43 seconds left in the first half, then went over from 1 yard out with 12:19 left in the third quarter and 4:20 left in the game. Hurts became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to run for three touchdowns in a game twice.
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· Bears safety Eddie Jackson is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Eagles cornerback Josh Jobe played but did not record any stats.
· Bears offensive lineman Alex Leatherwood played for the second time this season, and he recovered a fumble by Chicago quarterback Justin Fields.
· DeVonta Smith started at wide receiver for the Eagles. Smith had five receptions for 126 yards, including catches good for 45 and 38 yards. Smith recorded his third 100-yard game in the 2022 season.
Kansas City Chiefs 30, Houston Texans 24 (OT)
· Christian Harris started at linebacker for the Texans. Harris led Houston with 14 tackles, recorded three tackles for loss and registered a quarterback hit. The rookie had 41 tackles, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit in the first eight games of his NFL career entering Sunday’s contest. Two of Harris’ tackles for loss came after Kansas City entered Texans’ territory on its final fourth-quarter possession, and the Chiefs’ Harrison Butker missed a 51-yard field goal attempt with eight seconds left in regulation.
· Texans tight end O.J. Howard (Autauga Academy) was designated as a game-day inactive.
· Texans wide receiver John Metchie III is on reserve/non-football injury and not eligible to play.
Jacksonville Jaguars 40, Dallas Cowboys 34 (OT)
· Trevon Diggs started at cornerback for the Cowboys. Diggs made seven tackles.
· Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley is suspended by the commissioner and not eligible to play.
· Cam Robinson started at left offensive tackle for the Jaguars. Robinson left the game with a knee injury in the fourth quarter.
· Jaguars safety Deionte Thompson is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
New Orleans Saints 21, Atlanta Falcons 18
· Rashaan Evans (Auburn High) started at inside linebacker for the Falcons. Evans led Atlanta with 10 tackles and recorded one sack. Evans reached double digits in tackles for the sixth game in a row and 10th time this season. He has two sacks in 2022. Evans is the ninth player since 1987 with at least 10 tackles in six or more consecutive games. The most recent player to accomplish the feat before another former Alabama linebacker, C.J. Mosley, of the New York Jets.
· Saints running back Derrick Gore is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
· Saints running back Mark Ingram is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
Detroit Lions 20, New York Jets 17
· Isaiah Buggs started at defensive tackle for the Lions. Buggs made four tackles.
· Jets safety Jared Mayden is a member of the practice squad and not eligible to play.
· C.J. Mosley (Theodore) started at linebacker for the Jets. Mosley made five tackles.
· Lions offensive lineman Ross Pierschbacher was designated as a game-day inactive.
· Lions cornerback Saivion Smith is on the practice squad injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was targeted once but did not have a reception.
· Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (Wenonah) was designated as a game-day inactive. A calf injury kept Williams sidelined.
Denver Broncos 24, Arizona Cardinals 15
· Broncos linebacker Christopher Allen is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Kareem Jackson started at strong safety for the Broncos. Jackson made five tackles.
· Jerry Jeudy started at wide receiver for the Broncos. Jeudy had seven receptions for 76 yards.
· Patrick Surtain II started at left cornerback for the Broncos. Surtain made six tackles and intercepted a pass. Surtain wrapped up Denver’s victory with an interception with 55 seconds to play. Surtain has two interceptions this season after having one in the Broncos’ previous game, too.
Las Vegas Raiders 30, New England Patriots 24
· Raiders cornerback Anthony Averett is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore returned from a seven-game absence because of a knee injury. Barmore made three tackles and shared a sack.
· Patriots running back Damien Harris was designated as a game-day inactive. A thigh injury kept Harris sidelined for the third game in a row.
· Josh Jacobs started at running back for the Raiders. The NFL’s leader rusher, Jacobs ran for 93 yards on 22 carries and caught two passes for 17 yards.
· Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings (Dadeville) made two tackles.
· Mac Jones started at quarterback for the Patriots. Jones completed 13-of-31 passes for 112 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and ran four times for 10 yards.
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· Patriots defensive end LaBryan Ray (James Clemens) is on the practice squad injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Patriots outside linebacker Mack Wilson (Carver-Montgomery) made two tackles on special teams.
Cincinnati Bengals 34, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23
· Buccaneers wide receiver Julio Jones (Foley) was designated as a game-day inactive. Jones missed the game with a knee injury.
· Jonah Williams started at left offensive tackle for the Bengals.
New York Giants 20, Washington Commanders 12
· Jonathan Allen started at defensive tackle for the Commanders. Allen made six tackles and recorded one tackle for loss.
· Giants safety Landon Collins made three tackles. New York elevated Collins from its practice squad to make him eligible to play.
· Commanders defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Giants safety Xavier McKinney is on reserve/non-football injury and not eligible to play.
· Evan Neal started at right offensive tackle for the Giants.
· Daron Payne (Shades Valley) started at defensive tackle for the Commanders. Payne made two tackles.
· Giants cornerback Aaron Robinson is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
· Brian Robinson Jr. (Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa) started at running back for the Commanders. Robinson ran for 89 yards on 12 carries and caught an 18-yard pass. Robinson scored on a 1-yard run with 61 seconds to play and Washington trailing by eight points. But the touchdown was nullified by an illegal-formation penalty against Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin for not being on the line of scrimmage. Washington ended up being stopped on downs.
· Commanders wide receiver Cam Sims played but did not record any stats.
Week 15 started on Thursday night, when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21-13. On Saturday, the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Indianapolis Colts 39-36 in overtime, the Cleveland Browns defeated the Baltimore Ravens 13-3 and the Buffalo Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins 32-29.
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Week 15 concludes on Monday, when the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers square off at 7:15 p.m. CST at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes will televise the game.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
