Chris Johnson: Playing Great in Arizona
Former East Carolina Pirate Chris Johnson is experiencing something of a revival for the Arizona Cardinals.
It is still too early to tell if this is a new phase of excellence or an Indian Summer, but either way Johnson has been a pleasant surprise. He is currently second in the League in rushing yards.
So how do we account for 567 rushing yards and three hundred yard games with the season not yet half over?
One is the coaching of Bruce Arrians. Arrians has two things that have aided Johnson’s comeback. Arrians is a very good motivator. His biggest coaching achievement was taking over a young Colts team a year removed from a disastrous losing season and leading them to the playoffs. He finds players that others have almost given up on and gets more out of them. Look at Carson Palmer. Look at Larry Fitzgerald this year. Ben Roethlisberger still swears by this guy despite a successful relationship with Todd Haley.
Second, Arrians believes in a balanced offense. He knows he needs a running game in order to succeed. You can’t just live and die by Palmer’s gun arm. After all, the Cardinals found themselves with Palmer at the end of the year last year and it killed their season. So Arrians is going to give Johnson the ball.
The other thing is some veteran savvy. Johnson is a smarter back now than he was in the past. He reads the Cardinals line better, and that line is pretty good. Johnson isn’t just running around selling his speed, he knows that he has to be more measured about when he unleashes that weapon.
He still has it though. Johnson beat the Ravens for one touchdown last night on Monday Night Football. It was a twenty-six yard strike. Later Johnson added a sixty-two yard run notable for his awareness that all though he seemed tackled he was still live. So he took off for more.
Johnson’s resurgence may have been seen as a fantasy before the season. Now he has to be high on fantasy wish lists. A new appreciation and the coach who knew how to use Willie Parker in Pittsburgh are responsible.