Derrick Henry needed only one game of the new season to rewrite another section of the NFL record book.
The Baltimore Ravens running back rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns as Baltimore opened its season with a convincing 41-23 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
More importantly for Henry’s growing place in league history, those three trips to the end zone gave him 125 career rushing touchdowns and moved him past Hall of Famer Marcus Allen for third place on the NFL’s all-time list.
Henry entered the season within striking distance of Allen’s 123 career rushing scores. He quickly erased the gap, scoring on runs of 4 and 32 yards during the first half before adding a 3-yard touchdown later in the game.
Now there are only two names ahead of him.
Emmitt Smith remains the NFL’s career leader with 164 rushing touchdowns, while LaDainian Tomlinson sits second with 145. Henry’s latest performance leaves him 20 touchdowns behind Tomlinson as his climb through some of football’s most exclusive statistical territory continues.
At 32, Henry is also continuing to challenge the usual expectations for running backs at his stage of a career. His three-touchdown performance against Indianapolis was the eighth game in which he has scored at least three times on the ground.
The milestone was not limited to the rushing record book. Henry also reached 130 total career touchdowns, moving ahead of former Colts receiver Marvin Harrison into ninth place on the NFL’s all-time list.
Baltimore had plenty of offensive fireworks beyond Henry.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson passed for 324 yards and a touchdown while adding another score with his legs. Wide receiver Zay Flowers delivered one of the game’s biggest performances through the air, finishing with 150 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Ravens finished with 506 yards of offense, giving head coach Jesse Minter an emphatic victory in his regular-season debut with Baltimore.
But the afternoon ultimately belonged to Henry.
After years of running through defenses, piling up touchdowns and refusing to follow the traditional aging curve of an NFL running back, Henry has put himself alongside some of the greatest scorers the position has ever produced.
Marcus Allen is now behind him.
Tomlinson and Smith are the only two left ahead.
