Mike Tomlin breaks down how Steelers plan to stop Derrick Henry's 'lethal' stiff-arm

On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Tennessee Titans. In that game, the first order of business for head coach Mike Tomlin is going to be finding a way to stop running back Derrick Henry.

Ahead of the game, Tomlin dove into part of that plan. In particular, he shared how Pittsburgh plans on stopping Henry’s stiff-arm move.

“First thing, the collective approach is to keep him in close quarters where (the stiff arm) gets minimized. It doesn’t get used in close quarters,” Mike Tomlin said. “You keep him out of open space is the No. 1 thing, but if he happens to get into open space and you’re in an individual one-on-one, that’s where you’re talking about the technical component. We actually work it.”

Derrick Henry is one of the best running backs in the NFL. In 2020, he was even the NFL Offensive Player of the Year. A huge part of that success has been his stiff arm move.

“You identify skill-sets and traits that people have and how to combat it, and that is a tackling technique that you have to work. You have to knock the stiff arm down first, before you tackle. Obviously, you’re giving up yards while doing that, but that’s why it’s so critical to keep a guy like him out of open space and why his stiff arm is so lethal. Because he turns 15-yard gains into 30-yard gains. You get in these one-on-one battles with a guy who’s that fast and that long, it’s in parts,” Tomlin said.

“You have to knock that stiff arm down before you tackle. If you run into it, he stiff arms you to the ground. If he puts that hand on the top of your helmet, then that 15-yard play that’s becoming a 30-yard play could be a 50-yard play. And so, first things first you keep him in close quarters, you keep him out of open space, you keep him out of the second and third levels (of your defense) as much as you can. And if he so happens to get to that open space, it is a purity to a technique, and you better knock that hand down first. Knock it down or up depending on the nature of the matchup in terms of relative height and the angle at which he delivers it. But that is something that we work on in skill development in practice.”

Ultimately, though, there isn’t an easy answer on how to tackle Derrick Henry, as Mike Tomlin explained.

“No, because he’s going to put that hand on the top of your helmet and push your head into the ground and drive his knee up and keep rolling. That is also a technique. I’ve heard stories about how there’s a helmet on a stick at Tennessee Titans practices, and equipment men continually poke that helmet on a stick at him, and he’s continually finding the strike zone with his free hand. It is a technique that he has perfected, and so when I hear those stories, I am not surprised. There’s nothing kind of unintentional about the game at this level. It is skill development. It is a unique skill that he has that he has developed, and it requires work in development to combat it.”

Coming out of high school in the Class of 2013, Derrick Henry was a five-star recruit and found tons of success while at Alabama. Clearly, part of why Derrick Henry has been so good is his natural talent. However, Tomlin added that he’s honed those skills in the NFL.

“I’m sure it’s a natural thing that has been honed. Oftentimes when you see things done at a high level in this league, it is first a natural thing and then it has been honed on a competitive level. I get asked about Alex Highsmith‘s spin move all the time. It is a natural skill that has been honed over his time in Pittsburgh, for example.”

Derrick Henry calls out NFL over running back salaries

One major issue in the NFL has become running back salaries. Among those who feels that the position group is underpaid is Derrick Henry.

“Have you all witnessed it? I’m pretty sure you all have,” Henry said. “So, yes, just trying to show that we are as valuable as any other position. They use us in commercials and all over the place. And we just want our share due.”