Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) and Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry, right, greet each other after their team’s NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)
Gareth Patterson/AP
Derrick Henry ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns the first time the Cowboys saw him in a Ravens uniform in 2024. Adding a 17th game to the schedule, which brings another AFC-NFC matchup into the fold, affords Dallas a chance to see him Sunday in — of all places — Brazil. In all likelihood, the Cowboys will get another look at Henry in Baltimore in 2028.
So I think it’s fair to say that the one running back with a chance to surpass or at least close in on Emmitt Smith’s all-time record of 18,355 yards will have to run through a few would-be Dallas tacklers along the way.
Rk.
Player
Yards
Years
1.
Emmitt Smith+
18,355
1990-2004
2.
Walter Payton+
16,726
1975-1987
3.
Frank Gore
16,000
2005-2020
4.
Barry Sanders+
15,269
1989-1998
5.
Adrian Peterson
14,918
2007-2021
6.
Curtis Martin+
14,101
1995-2005
7.
LaDainian Tomlinson+
13,684
2001-2011
8.
Jerome Bettis+
13,662
1993-2005
9.
Eric Dickerson+
13,259
1983-1993
10.
Derrick Henry
13,230
2016-2026
Source: Pro Football Reference; +Indicates Hall of Famer
Henry goes where running backs are no longer supposed to go. Think about the fact that he was drafted the same year as Ezekiel Elliott, and the Cowboys’ high first-round pick hit the ground running with NFL rushing titles in 2016 and 2018. At that point — and this is where Smith’s record might come into play — Elliott had 367 more carries in pro ball than Henry. But Zeke’s career was finished after nine seasons, and some would argue he was bumping into the finish line long before that. Elliott did not average 4 yards per carry in any of his last three seasons.
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Henry was a man reborn when he landed in Baltimore after eight years in Tennessee. He ran for more than 1,900 yards on a 5.9 average in 2024, pounded out another 1,500 on a 5.2 average last season and ranks second behind Kansas City’s Kenneth Walker in rushing this season with 212 yards, four touchdowns and a 5.3 average.
ORG XMIT: TEMPE, AZ — SUPER BOWL XXX – COWBOYS VS. STEELERS — Dallas Cowboys Emmitt Smith runs away from the Steelers defense in the first quarter.
Smith’s record remains far off in the distance — 5,125 yards away — but it’s reasonable to assume another pair of 1,500-yard seasons will have Henry considering his historic options down the stretch of a remarkable career.
The Cowboys’ run defense has been something less than stellar against the Giants and Commanders. The task for Dallas in a foreign land Sunday is considerable.
“The challenge is great for sure,’’ coach Brian Schottenheimer said Thursday before the team took off for a weekend in Rio. “What’s amazing to me is the offseason training videos that come out. It reminds me, you remember clips of Walter Payton running that hill in Chicago, right? The training, you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, look at this guy.’ But you see all the things Derrick does to create, and it’s very specific, it’s lower body power and strength.
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“It’s all ground-based because that’s the way he plays the game. Incredible player. What we have to do is we have to create knock back. Our front has to play really, really well because if you can make Derrick hesitate his feet a little bit, it gives you the best chance to slow him down.’’
The Cowboys didn’t do a heck of a lot to slow down Cam Skattebo. Henry will look a foot taller and there’s no question he’s faster. Hit him quick, as Schottenheimer said, and the Cowboys have a chance. Allow him to pass through that first wave as he turns the corner and, on this particular evening, he’ll turn into Pelé in the open field.
“It’s been challenging for us the whole season stopping the run, especially the interior,’’ defensive lineman Quinnen Williams said. “So no matter who it is back there, we have to do our job up front, stop the run. That means being disruptive, playing with our hands, not getting knocked back and doing different things like that.’’
It’s not an ideal situation for Dallas, facing the game’s most dynamic rushing attack (Lamar Jackson can do whatever Jayden Daniels was doing in the first half Sunday when he chooses to) without a full-strength defense. For the final real practice before the game Thursday, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and three defensive backs that would normally be in the top six on the back end (cornerback Cobie Durant and safeties P.J. Locke and Malik Hooker) remained out with injuries. They are not traveling to Brazil.
“It’s not a perfect recipe for what we want, but it’s next man up,’’ Schottenheimer said. “And the thing I said the other day is it’s really team defense that matters most.’’
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We will see what new coordinator Christian Parker, who worked closely with the inside linebackers during the visual portion of practice Thursday, has in mind for this game. And as far as a Cowboys’ Hall of Famer and legend is concerned, next man up carries a different connotation.
Most running backs in today’s league are done with their careers or confined to partial roles by their 30th birthday. That’s why Smith’s record, built over an untouchable 4,409 carries, has appeared to be so unassailable. Henry, in his 11th season, is more than 1,700 carries behind Smith, and he has never been a real factor in anyone’s passing game. So at least it appears he has quite a few carries left in his engine to do whatever damage to the league record book that he chooses.
For now, it’s just a 60-minute problem for a Dallas team less worried about Smith’s place in history than its own place in the NFC East standings.
On Twitter/X: @TimCowlishaw
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