The Dallas Cowboys chose not to sign Derrick Henry during the offseason despite the former All-Pro living in the DFW area and the team needing a running back following Tony Pollard’s departure.
The payback came Sunday, when Henry ran through and over the Cowboys for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the Baltimore Ravens 28-25 win.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Henry was never an option for the team during the offseason.
“Hats off to him. He had a great day today, and have all the respect in the world for him,” Jones said. “And so that’s what happens when you don’t sign good ones, they can come back and have a great game against you. But bottom line is, we couldn’t afford Derrick Henry.”
The Ravens signed Henry on a two-year, $16 million contract and the Cowboys instead added Ezekiel Elliott in free agency on a one-year $2 million deal.
The difference between the two running backs was crystal clear to those in AT&T Stadium.
Against the Ravens, the Cowboys rushed 16 times for 51 yards with 6 yards being their longest run of the game. Elliott rushed for 6 yards on three carries.
Besides Henry’s 151 yards rushing, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson ran for 88 yards and a touchdown. As a team, the Ravens rushed for more yards Sunday (274) than the Cowboys have in three games (221)..
Despite the Cowboys’ struggles in the run game, Jones said that unit wasn’t at fault for the Cowboys back-to- back home losses.
“I saw some good running back play out there today, and I saw several plays that they didn’t have the ball ...but that’s because the way the game was going, and that was because of what they were doing on defense. But in general, I’m very satisfied with the fact that at that part of our team,” said Jones, “That’s not why we’re sitting here with these scores of these last two ball games.”
Jones said he’d like to see the team double the ground game’s production.
The longest rush of the season for Dallas came from wide receiver CeeDee Lamb who had a 12-yard run and the longest from a running back was a 10-yard carry by Rico Dowdle.
Henry was pleased with his best performance ofthe young season.
“I hold myself to a high standard,” he said.”I definitely wanted to come out here and be able to have an impact to give us a chance to win by the way I played. I feel like the first two weeks I kind of got going a little slow. But like I said, we’re all tied in together, and we all just want to come out here and execute and be able to win – and we did that today. Being in Dallas – this is where the offseason is [for me and] where I spend most of my time in the offseason. It felt a little good today for sure.”
Henry’s 26-yard touchdown in the third quarter put the Ravens up 28-6 and gave his team a commanding lead that would never be relinquished — despite a late Cowboys comeback attempt.
In the offseason, Henry was on the Pivot podcast and called the Cowboys a “perfect” situation for him because he lives and trains in Dallas during the offseason.
After the game, Henry said it was nice to get the victory where he spends his offseasons.
“I hold myself to a high standard. I definitely wanted to come out here and be able to have an impact to give us a chance to win by the way I played. I feel like the first two weeks I kind of got going a little slow. But like I said, we’re all tied in together, and we all just want to come out here and execute and be able to win – and we did that today. Being in Dallas – this is where the offseason is [for me and] where I spend most of my time in the offseason. It felt a little good today for sure.”
Henry’s 151 yards were the most in a game for the running back since he ran for 153 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 18 of last season.
Despite back-to-back rushers of at least 150 yards, Jones said there isn’t a blueprint for how to beat the Cowboys.
“No, no, not at all, the blueprint doesn’t worry me. Am I worried that teams will beat us on defense? Yes, I worry about that. You should, but a blueprint that’s going a little far,” Jones said.
The Cowboys will have a short week before playing the New York Giants at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at MetLife Stadium.
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