Frank Clark, Chiefs defense manage to bottle up Titans' Derrick Henry

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Frank Clark and the rest of the Chiefs defense made sure the defensive end didn’t eat his words.

Clark seemed to tug on Derrick Henry’s cape before the game when he told the NFL Network that the Titans' star running back isn’t that difficult to tackle. Henry had been running all over teams this postseason, after all.

But the Chiefs held Henry down, which was a big reason for their 35-24 victory over the Titans in the AFC Championship on Sunday. Henry rushed for just 69 yards, including just seven in the second half. 

Clark gave a number of television interviews on the field after the game, while his emotions were still high, and he relished in having shut down Henry.

“They come in here, they say they're going to run the ball. I know exactly what they were gonna do,” Clark told the NFL Network. “Over 200 yards each game. I knew damn well we wasn't going to win the game if we let that happen. They come in here, he runs for 70 yards, they call him the best rusher in the league. We sending [him] home early."

Henry was the biggest reason the sixth-seeded Titans were one win from the Super Bowl after rushing for 377 yards in wins over the Patriots and Ravens. He got off to a good start on Sunday, rushing 16 times for 62 yards and a touchdown in the first half.

The second half usually is when Henry gets going. He uses his big frame to wear out defenses. But that never happened as the Titans were forced to throw the ball more in the second half.

Henry caught two passes for minus-8 yards, leaving him with five touches for minus-1 yard of total second-half production. 

“They had a great game plan,” Henry said. “They came off the ball and were physical.”

“We’re the baddest [expletive] on the planet,” Clark said in the locker room after the game. “At the end of the day, I said they weren’t going to get over 200 yards. Our goal was to stop the run. We did well above that. We stopped the run and gave him seven yards in the second half. 19 rushes for 69 yards, that’s pretty good.

“I knew what we were going to do. I knew how much work we had put in to stopping the run. That’s why I felt so confident. We went out there and got the job done.”