Friday, December 7, 2018

Derrick Henry vs. Marshawn Lynch: Who Had the More Beastly Run?

Derrick Henry last night ran for 238 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 14.0 yards per carry on just 17 total rushes in a Thursday Night Football performance that helped officially knock the Jacksonville Jaguars out of the playoff hunt. His night included a 99-yard touchdown run that tied Tony Dorsett for the longest in the history of the NFL and drew a comparison by a large sports media company to former Seattle Seahawk running back Marshawn Lynch's 67-yard "Beast Mode" run in the 2011 NFL wild-card round. I don't mean to disrespect either athlete's skills and accomplishments, but I have to agree with those who thought the Lynch run was better.

Henry's rush had the edge in pure stats, with him running 99 yards compared to Lynch's 67, but that's one of the few advantages the former Heisman winner has over Beast Mode, and it's a relatively poor argument at that. As multiple others pointed out, Lynch has the advantage in game leverage, since his rush came in the first round of the playoffs. By contrast, Henry's run came on a Thursday night during the regular season between two teams fighting for their playoff lives. Not only that, but Lynch's rush came in the fourth quarter of a close playoff game, and extended his team's lead to 11 points.

Then there's the sheer physicality of Lynch's run: he broke through multiple tackles on the play, whereas it didn't really seem like anyone wanted to try bringing Henry down. By my count, Lynch broke three to seven good, legitimate tackle attempts. Henry didn't break any, though he still deserves credit for strong-arming Leon Jacobs without the benefit of proper leverage.

In the end, Lynch's run was just better. He had the benefit of situational leverage in a postseason game, and ran with more power and physicality than Henry, though both athletes certainly earned a place in the game's history in the pantheon of great NFL runners.

*Stats on Lynch's Beast Mode run courtesy pro-football-reference.com play index.*

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