Unthinkable at the start of December

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NASHVILLE , Tenn. (AP) — Derrick Henry has put together the best two-game stretch in franchise history to put himself 118 yards shy of the first 1,000-yard rushing season in his three-year NFL career.It’s still not a number that the Titans running back and 2015 Heisman Trophy winner is pondering.“I’m not focused on that,” Henry said Wednesday. “I’m focused on us getting this (win) and us finishing off the week right, going in there prepared and executing the plan and whatever happens happens. And I don’t really focus on 1,000 yards. As long as we get this win, that’s what I’ll be happy with.”The 6-foot-3, 247-pound Henry has turned around not just his season, but cemented his spot on the Tennessee roster. Rumors swirled that the Titans tried to trade him away at the deadline earlier this year, and Henry lost his starting spot to veteran Dion Lewis in November.Then Henry, who had been running much better since Tennessee’s bye at the end of October, turned in a game for the record books Dec. 6.Henry tied Tony Dorsett’s NFL record with a 99-yard touchdown run and finished with a franchise-record 238 yards on 17 carries and scored four touchdowns in a 30-9 rout of Jacksonville. That got Henry back in the starting lineup , and he ran a career-high 33 times for 170 yards and two TDs in a 17-0 shutout against the New York Giants.His 408 yards combined over the two games are the best in team history, topping the 405 yards Hall of Fame running back Earl Campbell managed for the then-Houston Oilers in October 1980. Nobody had ever run for six TDs over two games for this franchise before Henry.Offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur said he knows Henry was a little frustrated earlier this season.So what changed? Better blocking and play all around, especially by Henry.“I just think he’s running with a purpose, running with an attitude, a mindset a mentality that I’m not going down,” LaFleur said.Three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan says it’s cool to be part of record-setting performances.“He finds the holes, and he makes those extra guys miss,” Lewan said. “You can’t block them all on every single play. As much as we’d like to take credit, that’s him.”Now Henry can run for just 59 yards apiece over each of the next two games to reach 1,000 yards for the season, and he gets his first chance Saturday against Washington (7-7). The Redskins have allowed at least 130 yards rushing over each of the past five games.Henry is very familiar with Washington’s defensive line, having won championships with defensive end Jonathan Allen and rookie nose tackle Daron Payne at Alabama. But the running back , so critical of his own play early this season, insists he’s not worried about reaching 1,000 yards as long as the Titans win.“For me to be doing this stuff, you have to look at what’s happening around me,” Henry said. “That’s why I always say team because for me to have success and make big plays, everybody looks at what’s going on around me, and those guys are doing their job. I’m just going out there trying to do mine.”Coach Mike Vrabel called Henry the type of leader who works to improve what he is doing, which has carried over.“Happy for his success and hope we can get him as many yards as we can get him,” Vrabel said.Notes: Five Titans did not practice Wednesday: Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jurrell Casey (knee), LBs Brian Orakpo (elbow) and Sharif Finch (left shoulder), WR Tajae Sharpe (ankle) and LB Wesley Woodyard (back), added to the injury report after not being listed Tuesday. QB Marcus Mariota (foot) and S Kenny Vaccaro (concussion protocol) practiced fully. Russell Wilson won a wild-card game with Seattle as a rookie , a Super Bowl in his second season and another NFC championship the third time around.The best Dak Prescott can hope for with the Dallas Cowboys is to join Wilson on that list of title winners in his third year, a quest that will start with the first playoff meeting of quarterbacks with quite a bit in common.Both were mid-round draft picks who became instant NFL success stories. The difference is that Prescott lost his first playoff game after guiding the Cowboys to the top seed in the NFC two years ago, then had to wait two years for his second chance. It comes in a home wild-card game Saturday night.“When you say success of a quarterback or a quarterback’s success depending on what they do in the playoffs, I think that’s where the checks are written and they make their money,” Prescott said. “Our job is to win no matter what happens, no matter how you played individually. At the end of the day, it’s to get the job done.”When Wilson finally missed the playoffs in his sixth season last year, the Seahawks were eliminated on the final weekend — after they bounced Prescott and the Cowboys from contention with a road win in Week 16.Seattle was 0-2 this year when the season turned on a 24-13 win over the visiting Cowboys (10-6), with the Seahawks following a familiar formula from their Super Bowl days: an efficient Wilson, strong running game and playmaking defense.The Seahawks (10-6) kept it up despite overhauling the roster, mostly notably dismantling key pieces of the “Legion of Boom” defense. An important exception has been linebacker Bobby Wagner, who was just selected an All-Pro for the fourth time in five seasons.“The great thing about this team is the fact that everybody was telling us we couldn’t ,” Wilson said. “It shows the heart of this team and it shows the mindset of this team to be able to think the way that you want to think and the places that you want to go. To think big, to believe big.”Wilson was a third-round pick out of Wisconsin in 2012 and won the job in his first training camp. Prescott was drafted in the fourth round out of Mississippi State four years later and became the starter after preseason injuries to Tony Romo and backup Kellen Moore.In his first three years, Wilson won more games than any other NFL quarterback with 36. Prescott just finished tied for fifth on that list with 32. Two quarterbacks have an NFL-leading 24 games with at least a 100 passer rating in their first three seasons: Wilson and Prescott.Now it’s time for their third — and most meaningful — meeting, with Prescott looking to beat Wilson for the first time.“Dak had a phenomenal year to get started and get rolling and has just been solid since,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “I think it’s the dynamics of the mobility that when you add that together, and of course they can both throw the ball way down the field. You’ve got the same kind of problems.”RUN FIRSTBoth teams figure to try to control the pace with their running games. Ezekiel Elliott just won the NFL rushing title for the second time in his three seasons, and Chris Carson heads a group of Seattle backs that led the NFL in rushing. The Cowboys were 10th, fueled by Elliott, and have had a top-10 defense most of the season led by pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence and young playmaking linebackers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch. Dallas was fifth against the run.“We’re feeling great,” Elliott said. “I believe we have the best defense in football and a pretty good offense, a lot of weapons. I think we have the right recipe to make some noise.”WILD-CARD STREAKSeattle has won six straight wild-card games, a streak that started when Romo , a first-year starter and still the holder, flubbed the snap on a potential go-ahead field goal in the final two minutes of the Seahawks’ 21-20 home win during the 2006 season. Oddly enough during this streak, Seattle has lost every time in the divisional round.ORIGINAL LINEWith left guard Xavier Su’a-Filo listed as doubtful because of an ankle injury, the Cowboys are likely to have this season’s original starting offensive line before Su’a-Filo replaced injured rookie Connor Williams and kept the job.The starters are left tackle Tyron Smith, Williams, center Joe Looney, All-Pro right guard Zack Martin and right tackle La’el Collins. Looney has filled in all year for four-time Pro Bowler Travis Frederick, who was diagnosed with a nerve disorder during the preseason.SETTLED IN WEEK 3The Seahawks settled their offensive line in the first Dallas meeting with their best rushing game to that point. A key addition was right guard D.J. Fluker, who sat out Week 17 to nurse a nagging hamstring injury but will play. Left guard J.R. Sweezy is questionable with a sprained foot.Both teams have had issues protecting their mobile quarterbacks. Prescott (56 sacks) and Wilson (51) were among the four QBs dropped at least 50 times this season.13<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:NFL Playoff Odds: Brees, Saints Favorites To Win Super BowlDerick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports | Derick E. Hingle

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