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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)<\/p>\n
Gareth Patterson\/AP<\/p>\n
Derrick Henry ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns\u00a0the first time the Cowboys saw him in a Ravens uniform in 2024<\/a>. Adding a 17th game to the schedule, which brings another\u00a0AFC-NFC matchup into the fold, affords Dallas a chance to see him Sunday in \u2014 of all places \u2014 Brazil. In all likelihood, the Cowboys will get another look at Henry in Baltimore in 2028.<\/p>\n So I think it\u2019s fair to say that the one running back with a chance to surpass or at least close in on\u00a0Emmitt Smith\u2019s all-time record of 18,355 yards will have to run through a few would-be Dallas tacklers along the way.<\/p>\n Rk.<\/p>\n \u00a0Player<\/p>\n \u00a0Yards<\/p>\n \u00a0Years<\/p>\n 1.<\/p>\n \u00a0Emmitt Smith+<\/p>\n \u00a018,355<\/p>\n \u00a01990-2004<\/p>\n 2.<\/p>\n \u00a0Walter Payton+<\/p>\n \u00a016,726<\/p>\n \u00a01975-1987<\/p>\n 3.<\/p>\n \u00a0Frank Gore<\/p>\n \u00a016,000<\/p>\n \u00a02005-2020<\/p>\n 4.<\/p>\n \u00a0Barry Sanders+<\/p>\n \u00a015,269<\/p>\n \u00a01989-1998<\/p>\n 5.<\/p>\n \u00a0Adrian Peterson<\/p>\n \u00a014,918<\/p>\n \u00a02007-2021<\/p>\n 6.<\/p>\n \u00a0Curtis Martin+<\/p>\n \u00a014,101<\/p>\n \u00a01995-2005<\/p>\n 7.<\/p>\n \u00a0LaDainian Tomlinson+<\/p>\n \u00a013,684<\/p>\n \u00a02001-2011<\/p>\n 8.<\/p>\n \u00a0Jerome Bettis+<\/p>\n \u00a013,662<\/p>\n \u00a01993-2005<\/p>\n 9.<\/p>\n \u00a0Eric Dickerson+<\/p>\n \u00a013,259<\/p>\n \u00a01983-1993<\/p>\n 10.<\/p>\n \u00a0Derrick Henry<\/p>\n \u00a013,230<\/p>\n \u00a02016-2026<\/p>\n Source: Pro Football Reference; +Indicates Hall of Famer<\/p>\n 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\u2019 high first-round pick hit the ground running with NFL rushing titles in 2016 and 2018. At that point \u2014 and this is where Smith\u2019s record might come into play \u2014 Elliott had 367 more carries in pro ball than Henry. But Zeke\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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\u2019s Kenneth Walker in rushing this season with 212 yards, four touchdowns and a 5.3 average.<\/p>\n ORG XMIT: TEMPE, AZ — SUPER BOWL XXX – COWBOYS VS. STEELERS — Dallas Cowboys Emmitt Smith runs away from the Steelers defense in the first quarter.<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s record remains far off in the distance \u2014 5,125 yards away \u2014 but it\u2019s reasonable to assume another pair of 1,500-yard seasons will have Henry considering his historic options down the stretch of a remarkable career.<\/p>\n The Cowboys\u2019 run defense has been something less than stellar against the Giants and Commanders<\/a>. The task for Dallas in a foreign land Sunday is considerable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge is great for sure,\u2019\u2019 coach Brian\u00a0Schottenheimer said Thursday before the team took off for a weekend in Rio. \u201cWhat\u2019s 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\u2019re like, \u2018Oh my gosh, look at this guy.\u2019 But you see all the things Derrick does to create, and it\u2019s very specific, it\u2019s lower body power and strength.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all ground-based because that\u2019s 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.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n The Cowboys didn\u2019t do a heck of a lot to slow down Cam Skattebo. Henry will look a foot taller and there\u2019s no question he\u2019s 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\u2019ll turn into Pel\u00e9 in the open field.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been challenging for us the whole season stopping the run, especially the interior,\u2019\u2019 defensive lineman\u00a0Quinnen Williams said. \u201cSo 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.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n It\u2019s not an ideal situation for Dallas, facing the game\u2019s most dynamic rushing attack (Lamar Jackson can do whatever\u00a0Jayden 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<\/a> with injuries. They are not traveling to Brazil.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a perfect recipe for what we want, but it\u2019s next man up,\u2019\u2019\u00a0Schottenheimer said. \u201cAnd the thing I said the other day is it\u2019s really team defense that matters most.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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\u2019 Hall of\u00a0Famer and legend is concerned, next man up carries a different connotation.<\/p>\n Most running backs in today\u2019s league are done with their careers or confined to partial roles by their 30th birthday. That\u2019s why Smith\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n For now, it\u2019s just a 60-minute problem for a Dallas team less worried about Smith\u2019s place in history than its own place in the\u00a0NFC East standings.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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