The Arizona Cardinals saw the future of their rushing game Sunday night.
And they liked it.
When starting running back Andre Ellington left the game with what the team believes to be a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee, Arizona was forced to rely Chris Johnson and David Johnson for the final 11 minutes, 42 seconds of their 31-19 win over the New Orleans Saints.
Both proved the Cardinals will be in good hands if Ellington were to miss a game because of the injury.
Chris Johnson took over the every-down role for Ellington, which he’d likely continue if Ellington misses time, and ran for 30 of his 37 yards on seven carries in the fourth quarter, an average of 4.28 yards per rush, including a 12-yard run on his first carry after replacing Ellington. He only carried three times prior.
“I thought Chris looked good,” coach Bruce Arians said. “He’ll get more touches and we will feel very confident if he is our lead dog, and then David has been backing him up.”
David Johnson perhaps had the biggest play of the game, a long TD reception to help put the game away against the Saints. If Ellington misses time, David Johnson should get more touches as a result. But it looks like the team will hand things over to Chris Johnson in terms of the workload.Chris Johnson will be worth at least a short term pickup if he's on your waiver wire and Ellington misses time.
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