Johnson began the play with a jump cut worthy of a long jumper, followed by a spin to get out of the clutches of would-be tacklers. He put his hand to the turf to keep his balance and stiff-armed two defenders as he broke into the open field.
Chris will play when David decides he's too tired.
His mix of skill and instinct was on full display in a 45-yard run that led to the Cardinals' go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) September 12, 2016
Johnson is big — 6-foot-1, 225 pounds — with power, agility and surprising breakaway speed.
"A crazy run, basically," Johnson said after the Cardinals practiced Wednesday. "It was all instincts. That's all I could say is that all instincts took over that run for sure."
Gurley and Gordon were the big-name backs chosen in the first round of the 2015 draft. Johnson was selected in the third round out of Northern Iowa.
In the 23-21 loss to New England, Johnson carried the ball 16 times for 89 yards and caught four passes for 43 yards, one of them a 26-yarder that featured a couple of open-field moves and a quick dash past would-be tacklers.
But Johnson usually gets the last laugh.
The Cardinals, who had the No. 1 offense in the NFL last season, are known for Carson Palmer's passing Larry Fitzgerald,Wholesale Nike Shoes Online, Michael Floyd and John Brown, among others. But Palmer points to Johnson as a critical player if the team is to have the success it expects this season.
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"He never really got tired" against New England," Arians said. "There was the one time we had a longer drive and he tapped out, and Chris went right in and Andre (Ellington) jumped in on third down. Hopefully we have some longer drives and he taps out more often and we can get Chris in there."
Coach Bruce Arians said he saw immediately what kind of potential Johnson had, but brought him along slowly.
In the six games since Johnson became the starter as a rookie late last season, he leads the NFL with 531 yards rushing and 791 yards from scrimmage.
"It goes where Dave goes, there's no doubt," Palmer said. "He does so much in the passing game,Wholesale Football Jerseys, not only protection but running routes. He catches a lot of balls. But very few things will work in the pass game if we don't have a run game. So, him running the ball like he's been running from the beginning of training camp until has tremendous effect on the pass game. He's as big a part of this offense as anybody."
Johnson is such a nice guy it's hard to reconcile that with the hard-hitting player on the field.
The first time Johnson touched the ball in an NFL game, he caught short pass from Palmer and turned on the speed in a 55-yard touchdown play. The second time he touched it, he returned a kickoff 108 yards for a score.
While the Arizona Cardinals did a lot of things wrong in their season-opening loss to the New England Patriots,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, Johnson did a lot of things right.
According to Pro Football Focus, Johnson had the highest rushing grade of opening weekend at 81.4, followed by Melvin Gordon (80.5), DeAngelo Williams (80.1) and Todd Gurley (78.7).

Not much can make him angry, he said. He gets mad at himself when he makes a mistake. And then there's those times when the defenders are "chirping."
Still, he didn't get the starting running back job until Chris Johnson went down with a season-ending knee injury. Chris Johnson is back but David has a firm hold on the job now. Chris Johnson only played two snaps against the Patriots.
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TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Defenders like to make fun of David Johnson because he's almost always smiling.
"When you get on the field, it's a different story, especially as a running back," he said. "You've got to be aggressive. You've got to be able to take the pounding and be able to get the yards."
"I try to show them,Cheap Shoes Australia Free Shipping," Johnson said, "that just because I smile, I'm not a soft guy."