Chris Johnson has added a much-needed dynamic to the Arizona Cardinals that they’ve been sorely missing.
While the downfield bombing remains the strength of Arizona’s attack, the running game has caught up and added more than just a complimentary element.
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The Cardinals rank third in the league with 4.8 yards per rush and 10th in yards on the ground per game with 125.6. Last year, those respective numbers were 3.3 and 81.8 – last and second to last in the NFL.
Johnson has been the catalyst for the turnaround, despite being a late addition to Arizona in the offseason and originally slated as simply a back-up.
After starter Andre Ellington went down with a multi-week injury in Week 1, however, the 30-year-old Johnson has taken the job and literally run with it by rushing for 567 yards – good for second most in the league – and three touchdowns so far this season.
The former rushing champion had arguably his best outing in the Cardinals’ 26-18 win over the Baltimore Ravens this week.
Johnson needed just 18 carries to produce 122 yards and a touchdown, which he scored on a vintage elusive run by breaking tackles and juking defenders.
“I’m known for my speed, so I showed right there some power,” Johnson said of the 26-yard highlight play.
Later in the game, he scampered 62 yards after appearing to be tackled by a Baltimore defender, only to roll over the player without touching the ground to continue his run.
The performance showed flashes of Johnson’s heyday, when he became just the sixth player in NFL history to amass 2,000 yards in a single season in 2009.
Since his magical sophomore campaign, Johnson’s career had tailed off before being rejuvenated this year with Arizona, who are 5-2 and first in the NFC West.
“He’s still got it, I’ll tell you that,” quarterback Carson Palmer said. “That defence notices it. Every defence that we line up against knows when he’s in the backfield and when he’s not. Just a great player. For a while, he was one of the most dominant players in the NFL and he can still dominate a game like he did [Monday].”
The emergence of a legitimate running threat has shifted the Cardinals’ offence to another gear as they rank second in the league in points per game at 32.7 and fourth in yards per game with 406.9.