Huntley followed with an even more revealing comment, openly referencing Sanders by name. “I’m trying to get out of here so I can call Shedeur. Make sure he can get it done,” Huntley said, leaving little doubt about who Baltimore is rooting for this weekend and why.

The context behind those comments is the tightening AFC North race. A Browns win over Pittsburgh would crack the door open for Baltimore, shifting playoff chances and setting up a potential winner-take-all scenario in Week 18. The Ravens handled their own business, and now their postseason hopes rest on Cleveland delivering one more favor.

AFC North standings entering Week 17

Pittsburgh leads the division at 9–6, holding a slim edge after winning three straight, while Baltimore sits at 8–8 and clings to playoff life. Cincinnati and Cleveland have fallen out of contention, but the Browns still control a result that could flip the entire division race in one afternoon.

Huntley’s performance only added weight to his words. He finished the game 16-of-20 for 107 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per attempt, with one touchdown and no interceptions, steady enough to keep Baltimore alive another week. The Ravens’ win wasn’t flashy, but it was essential to preserving hope.

The path forward is narrow and unforgiving. Baltimore cannot reach the playoffs via a wild card and must win the AFC North to qualify as the conference’s No. 4 seed. That means a Browns upset of the Steelers in Week 17, followed by a Ravens win over Pittsburgh in Week 18, is the only scenario that keeps their season alive.

Stretching from goal line to open field, some of the NFL’s most iconic plays have been long rushing touchdowns that flip momentum in an instant. Backs have shattered defenses with runs that defy tackle charts and fade into league lore.

The benchmark for sheer distance remains impossible to top, first set in the early 1980s and later matched. Those moments crystallize speed, vision, and an offensive line firing on all cylinders.

But beyond the record, a rich tapestry of explosive long runs spans eras and personnel. From franchise-best bursts to game-changing breakouts, some touchdown dashes have become enduring snapshots of athletic prowess.

What is the longest rushing touchdown in the NFL?

In the long, storied history of the National Football League, every inch counts but the longest possible rushing touchdown from scrimmage is one that spans the entire length of the field.

That mark stands at 99 yards, and it has stood the test of time as the official maximum for a run from scrimmage, since the ball must be snapped from within a team’s own 1-yard line.

Two of the greatest running backs of their respective eras share this rarefied record: Tony Dorsett of the Dallas Cowboys and Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans.

On January 3, 1983, Dorsett shattered conventional expectations with a dazzling, 99-yard sprint against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. It wasn’t just a record, it was a defining moment in a Hall of Fame career.

Decades later, on December 6, 2018, Titans star Derrick Henry replicated that feat, bulldozing through defenders to match Dorsett’s historic run for Tennessee against Jacksonville. That run tied Tony’s record, proving how rare and special such a play truly is

Since that iconic night in Minnesota, no player in NFL history has surpassed the 99-yard rushing touchdown mark, it remains the longest possible run from scrimmage and the highest ground-gain highlight any running back can achieve.

Why 99 yards is as far as you can go in the NFL

It may seem strange that no player has ever rushed for 100 yards on a single play, but the rules of football make the math clear. The offensive team cannot snap the ball from inside its own end zone and even if its back is pressed against the goal line, the farthest position for a rushing attempt is the 1-yard line.

From that spot, the maximum distance to the opposite end zone, where a touchdown is scored, is exactly 99 yards. No more, no less. Each foot past that point would already be in the end zone, so the record is bound not by athletic ability, but by the geometry of the gridiron itself.

Because of this setup, any run of 99 yards instantly catapults a back into NFL lore. It’s a blend of speed, vision, blocking and a little bit of luck — a perfect storm that only a handful of players have ever been part of.

In the final quarter against New England, the Ravens had two possessions with a chance to secure the victory. Surprisingly, Harbaugh did not use Derrick Henry at all, despite him being one of the team’s most impactful weapons. According to the head coach, the decision was based on the team’s depth at the running back position.

“Well, we have a rotation,” John Harbaugh said on Tuesday, via transcript from the team. “The rotation is Derrick [Henry] and Keaton [Mitchell] are our first- and second-down backs. We came to that in the last few weeks and made sure that on all those plays, it was one of those two guys.

“And that [in] obvious pass [situations] was third-down only, for Rasheen [Ali], which I think he had nine plays on. Then, the rotation was two to one, as far as starting the series off, and depending on how long the series goes, Derrick gets four or five – three, four, five runs, and he’s ready — he needs a break. So, Keaton comes in or vice versa.“

Derrick Henry hasn’t met expectations this season

While Derrick Henry remains one of the league’s most powerful and physically dominant running backs, the reality is that the Ravens expected more consistency from him this season.

Against the Patriots, Henry finished with 128 rushing yards and two touchdowns—numbers that appear impressive on paper. However, ball security continues to be a concern. Early in the game, Henry lost a fumble after picking up a first down, halting a promising drive deep in Patriots territory.

At the time, Baltimore held a 7–0 lead and was in position to potentially extend it with another touchdown or at least a field goal. Instead, the turnover shifted momentum and kept New England within reach.

Although the game ultimately came down to a single possession, the Ravens could have been playing from a much more comfortable position. A potential 14–0 advantage early on may have dramatically changed the outcome.

Are the Ravens eliminated from the 2026 playoffs?

Despite the loss to New England, the Ravens are not officially eliminated from playoff contention. However, their path to the postseason has become increasingly difficult.

Baltimore currently sits as the No. 9 seed in the AFC. Its only realistic route to the playoffs is winning the AFC North. To make that happen, the Ravens would need the Steelers to lose to the Cleveland Browns in Week 17, defeat the Packers on Saturday and then get the victory against Pittsburgh in Week 18.

Not long ago, Vrabel was the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, with Henry leading the offense on the ground. This week, they meet again under very different circumstances, with Vrabel warning his Patriots players about exactly what the Ravens’ star running back is capable of.

“It is a huge challenge,” Vrabel said this week about stopping Henry, via a transcript from the team. “He’s a very unique player. Great speed, great power, strength. He’s just a different body type than what anybody would go against, and so it’s unique in that regard. They do a very nice job with their scheme, different personnel groups, different run plan and styles of run, and different run actions. So again, we know what he’s about. Build speed and stiff arm and all that other stuff.”

A different season for Vrabel and Henry

Mike Vrabel is firmly in the conversation for Coach of the Year after orchestrating a remarkable turnaround with the Patriots. On the other hand, Derrick Henry and the Ravens have struggled far more than expected this season.

New England currently leads the AFC East with an 11–3 record and still has a path to the No. 1 seed in the conference, depending on how the Denver Broncos finish the season. Vrabel has clearly transformed a franchise that had been searching for direction since Tom Brady’s departure.

Baltimore’s situation is far less comfortable. The Ravens sit outside the playoff picture, but their final regular-season matchup against the Steelers could determine the AFC North champion and decide whether they reach the postseason.

Derrick Henry’s production raises concerns

At 31 years old, questions about Derrick Henry’s future have begun to surface. His production this season has been solid but not dominant, fueling speculation about a potential decline.

With three games remaining, Henry has logged 233 carries for 1,125 yards and 10 touchdowns. However, three costly fumbles in critical moments have hurt Baltimore’s chances and raised concerns about his reliability in high-leverage situations.

The Baltimore Ravens‘ season is turned upside down and it’s only Week 6. Poised to be a Super Bowl contender, they now have a 1-4 record and quarterback Lamar Jackson is injured for a few weeks. It’s all going downhill but not for running back Derrick Henry, who is still positive the team can turn the season around.

During Thursday’s press conference, Henry said, “We can turn this thing around and get what we want to get out of the season. We just have to lock in, and everybody has just got to do more, hold each other accountable. Leaders lead.“

Henry knows that, without Lamar Jackson, he is the most impactful player on the team’s offense. If he thinks the season is not over yet, then he must be the one to lift the team into new heights.

There is a problem with Henry

Usually one of the best running backs in the NFL, Henry made a name for himself for being a monstrous presence in the backfield, capable of pushing people with ease and also exploding on big plays. However, this season he’s not had his usual output.

Henry has only one 100-yard mark. Even worse, he has four straight weeks without surpassing 50 rushing yards in a game. Not only that, but he has been strangely unreliable as he has three fumbles already in the season, leading the NFL in that regard. For instance, Henry had three fumbles all last season.

The Ravens need to stay alive until the Bye Week

Baltimore plays this week and then the Bye Week comes. It needs to win its Week 6 game vs. the Rams, which is no easy feat whatsoever. But, if the team somehow makes it, the comeback might be on.

The Ravens then go to the Bye and probably recover Lamar Jackson, after that, the schedule is very winnable. They host the Bears, visit the Dolphins, play the Vikings, Browns, Jets and a Joe Burrow-less Bengals. Those might be at least five or even six wins. With that, the Ravens would be a .500 team and alive to push for a playoff berth.

While the final score showed the visitors coming away with a 38-30 win, the real story was how Dan Campbell’s team managed to find their way into the end zone.

The fact that the Ravens missed 20 tackles and allowed their opponent to rush for 224 yards is an unusual breakdown — one that, according to Harbaugh himself, simply can’t happen again.

“There’s nobody in that locker room that thinks that’s good enough,” the head coach said, via the team’s website. “That’s disappointing. That’s bad run defense, and that’s not who we are. It cannot be who we are. It’s not going to be acceptable, and it has to be better.”

Derrick Henry offers honest self-critique

Henry is widely regarded as one of the most explosive running backs in the NFL today. However, this season, one recurring issue has continued to plague him: fumbles. His performance last night was no exception — and unfortunately, the turnover came at a crucial moment in the game for his Ravens.

“I’ve got to be better and go back to work. I apologized to teammates, coaches,” he said to the press once the game concluded.

“It’s just crazy,” Henry also added. “Three fumbles straight. I’m trying every day to fix the problem that keeps occurring. I’m my worst critic so I try not to beat myself up too much but it’s hard not to when I’m consistently doing something.”

What’s next for the Ravens?

Looking to move past the loss to the Lions, these are the upcoming matchups where Lamar Jackson and the Ravens will look to get their season back on track:

• @ Kansas City Chiefs, September 28
• vs Houston Texans, October 5
• vs Los Angeles Rams, October 12
• Bye Week
• vs Chicago Bears, October 26

“Just let it go,” Jackson told Henry, as he admitted during his postgame press conference. “You know, we had like six and a half minutes left in the game, when that situation happened our defense did a great job.” The quarterback stressed that his message was about moving forward even after the turnover.

For Jackson, this loss to the Lions wasn’t a wake-up call. That, he said, came back in Week 1 when the Ravens fell 41-40 to the Bills. “Not just this loss, Week 1 was a wake-up call, last week [Browns] was a wake-up call because we started off slow,” he added, while also crediting Detroit for having a “great game plan” to beat Baltimore.

John Harbaugh also weighed in on Henry

It was more than obvious that John Harbaugh, just like Jackson, would address Henry‘s situation with another fumble. Although this time it was not as bad, he noted that things need to improve in that area to prevent it from happening again.

“That was kind of a blind shot there,” Harbaugh said. “I thought he had the ball in good position. Still, we just want to protect the football; all our guys do, and we have to do it. We have to be good at it.”

Ravens’ next game

They’ll face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4 in what looms as a crucial matchup for both sides. Baltimore is chasing its second win of the season, while Kansas City is also eager to bounce back and get rolling in the standings.

Henry acknowledged he needs to make changes to avoid the same mistakes. “I guess just try to implement those situations, be more cautious and just try to hold it as tight as you can,” he said. “… I don’t know, just got to keep working. That’s all I can think of. It sucks right now.”

The latest turnover wasn’t as crushing as it could have been, coming late against Detroit. The Lions got the ball at the Baltimore 16-yard line, but the defense quickly stiffened, pushing them back to the 21 before forcing a field goal. Even so, Henry knew the moment stung.

Henry’s Teammate Supports Him

Teammate Roger Rosengarten offered perspective and support after the loss. “I believe that on the next play — he’s a next-play guy — he’s going to come back and he’s going to run it for a 90-yard touchdown,” Rosengarten said. “Derrick’s a Hall of Fame player.”

Three consecutive weeks with a fumble in each isn’t easy to take, but at least coach Harbaugh and quarterback Lamar Jackson understand that these things happen and they can move forward despite the fact that such errors can be very costly.

Henry’s positive plays so far this season have far outweighed the fumbles. He leads the Ravens in rushing yards with 192, and they don’t have another running back who can be as effective as he is. Therefore, they will have to be patient while he overcomes this problem.

Derrick Henry has been an outstanding asset for the Ravens. He is arguably Lamar Jackson’s most dangerous offensive weapon, but he’s far from the only one.

According to Henry, the NFL is underestimating DeAndre Hopkins, who joined the Ravens this year in a move that has already paid off for Baltimore.

Derrick Henry warns the entire NFL about underestimating DeAndre Hopkins

Earlier this year, the Ravens decided to add a star wide receiver to Lamar Jackson’s offense. They went for DeAndre Hopkins, whose stint with the Chiefs raised some doubts about his fit in Baltimore.

Head coach John Harbaugh wanted to add a seasoned wide receiver, similar to what he did with Odell Beckham Jr. not long ago. However, the mindset between the two veterans is very different.

Hopkins understands that he is not the WR1 in Baltimore, while Beckham previously tried to claim that role. Hopkins is now in a WR3 role, which, according to Derrick Henry, allows him to find more space in the defense.

“Hopefully, they keep calling him ‘washed’ because that shit has been working,” Henry said Friday, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com. “We need it.

“Everybody knows that stigma, when you get up in age, all of a sudden, something has changed.”

Age is just a number

At 33 years old, retirement is on the horizon for DeAndre Hopkins. If success comes this season, he could finally leave football with the coveted ring he has chased throughout his career.

In just two games with the Ravens, Hopkins’ numbers may seem modest, but they are highly efficient. He has four receptions on four targets for 99 yards and two touchdowns—the kind of effectiveness Lamar Jackson values in his targets.

Henry continues to prove he is not only one of the Ravens’ offensive stars but also one of the league’s elite. He averages 1,428 rushing yards per season (in a 17-game schedule) and is on pace to surpass 12,000 career rushing yards by midseason.

His role as a running back keeps raising the bar higher and higher. In the opener against the Bills, Henry confirmed that he can further cement his place among the greatest running backs in league history, especially after surpassing a Browns legend in a historic ranking.

Which legend did Henry surpass?

With his 107th rushing touchdown, Henry surpassed the legendary Jim Brown, moving into sole possession of sixth place on the NFL’s all-time rushing touchdown list, according to NFL.com. Brown starred with Cleveland from 1957 to 1965 and is enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

This achievement highlights Henry’s consistency at the NFL’s elite level, as he reached 107 touchdowns in 136 games, while Brown recorded 106 in just 118 games. At the same time, Henry has climbed to 18th on the all-time rushing yards list, surpassing three-time Pro Bowler Steven Jackson.

Who’s next on Henry’s list?

The next star within Henry’s reach is none other than Walter Payton, who ranks fifth with 110 rushing touchdowns. The legendary running back shined with the Chicago Bears from 1975 to 1987, was named league MVP in 1977, and won a Super Bowl in 1986.

A few years ago, the Cleveland Browns had one of the NFL’s best running backs in Nick Chubb. Despite the team’s struggles, he posted elite numbers and delivered standout performances that impressed everyone.

Everything changed in 2023, when Chubb suffered a devastating knee injury. Since then, he hasn’t been able to return to peak form, but he believes his move to Houston will be the turning point.

Nick Chubb makes bold comparison to Derrick Henry

In the NFL, running backs rarely stay at the top for many years. Their position makes them highly susceptible to injuries, and only a few can avoid them long enough to maintain elite status.

For Chubb, avoiding that fate proved impossible. A torn ACL and MCL in 2023 derailed his career trajectory, keeping him from regaining the dominance he once displayed.

Derrick Henry’s career has taken the opposite path. Thanks to his unique build and durability, the Ravens star has stayed healthy and productive, performing at a high level in nearly every season he has played.

That’s why comparing Chubb to Henry might seem unusual to some—just not to Chubb himself. According to the new Texans RB, who turns 30 this year, he belongs in the same conversation as Henry among the league’s top backs over 30.

“[Henry] is different,” Chubb told ESPN’s Bien-Aime. “You are not gonna put him in that category, he showed it’s not true. And I think that applies for me. I’m in the category with them. I’m different, and I feel good as I have been.”

Can Nick Chubb become the Texans’ RB1?

Despite his recent injuries, Chubb’s self-belief hasn’t wavered. His opportunity to prove it may come sooner than expected.

Texans starter Joe Mixon is dealing with an injury that will sideline him for the start of the 2025 season. Chubb is set to step in, and if he performs like the player he was in Cleveland, Mixon’s role could be in jeopardy.