Arizona Cardinals loss of Chris Johnson huge
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals suffered three significant injuries on Sunday but none turned out worse than running back Chris Johnson
When the Arizona Cardinals finished off the San Francisco 49ers 19-13 on Sunday afternoon, we knew the Cardinals were facing three tough injuries. Two of them were to their top two running backs Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington. On Monday, it was learned Johnson fractured his tibia.
The other injury thankfully was not as serious as first thought in cornerback Jerraud Powers. He has a strained calf and day-to-day. Back to Johnson though, his loss will turn out to be huge down the stretch.
Johnson was in the midst of a re-birth this season. His season has likely ended with 797 yards and three touchdowns. He brought balance though back to the Cardinals offensive attack, revitalizing a rushing game that was dormant last season.
Now the Cardinals move on to Kerwynn Williams. He had the only 100-yard rushing game for the Cardinals last season. Maybe he can re-gain that late season spark he provided in 2014. It appears though rookie David Johnson will be the top guy until Ellington is ready to return. He has turf toe, which can be a difficult injury to diagnose a timetable for return.
The loss of Chris Johnson though will likely prove to be huge. The only way the Cardinals can mitigate the loss is to see David Johnson grow up quickly. Part of the reason David Johnson hasn’t seen as many carries this season as many thought he would early on is because he has trouble hanging on to the ball at times.
It has been reported that the Cardinals are looking at their options and looking to see if CJ can return this season at all but let’s not count on it. It’s now week 13. If he can come back it wouldn’t likely be before mid-January at best. Johnson needs to properly rehab his leg, let it heal, and come back 100 percent in 2016.
The Cardinals managed to make it until December before getting hit with a huge offensive injury. The Cardinals can still manage a very good offensive attack without him but now the road got just a little tougher for them going into the home stretch. Make no mistake, CJ will be missed.