Chris Johnson's Vow to Lead NFL in Rushing Will Prove to Be an Epic Fail

If making boastful comments counted for yards, Titans RB Chris Johnson would have a shot at leading the league in rushing yards. 

In what will not be news to anyone (except maybe Johnson), they do not. And that leaves Johnson with no hope of capturing the 2012 rushing title. 

Don't tell that to him, though. Here is CJ2K on Twitter.

"

Statement is I'm gonna lead the league n rushing this year save this

— Chris Johnson (@ChrisJohnson28) March 3, 2012"

Johnson certainly has a reason to talk himself up. After a holdout that led to a massive contract, Johnson completely underwhelmed in 2011. 

He had six games where he failed to crack 50 yards rushing. He topped 100 yards just three times. 

He finished with career lows in yards, yards-per-carry and touchdowns. In the process, he also set a career high in criticisms. 

Tom Gower of Football Outsiders and Total Titans dissected Johnson's Week 7 game against the Texans. In that game, he rushed for just 18 yards on 10 carries. Gower concluded that it was not because of bad blocking or great defense, but due to CJ's lack of effort. 

"

As to what this means for next Sunday, I really don’t know. To my eye, what Chris Johnson was doing would prevent him from running for good yardage against virtually any NFL defense, behind virtually any NFL offensive line. It is possible that Chris Johnson just had an exceptionally bad game, and that he will run the ball much better Sunday against the Colts. Personally, I am not optimistic about Chris Johnson’s future performance, be it against the Colts, the rest of this season, or the remainder of his NFL career.

"

Johnson did rebound somewhat. In Weeks 10-13 he went over 100 yards in three of four games. However, after that, he didn't rush for more than 61 yards in any game. And there is another stat that points to his struggles being about more than just attitude. 

Why CJ is Crazy to Think He Will Take the Rushing Title

While, at times, Johnson did prove that he was still capable of running hard and being productive, there is something troubling beyond that. 

The running back that is famous for breaking off long runs only had one run for more than 35 yards. 

With that diminished ability to break off a long run, Johnson has no shot at winning any rushing titles. This is a back whose stats soared because he was a constant threat to take it to the house, and not because he is a consistent grind-it-out workhorse back. 

But there is another factor that plays an even larger role here. The Titans are not prepared to offer him the opportunity to have a huge season. 

This team finished 31st in rushing last year. Their offensive line was absolutely terrible in run-blocking, and they are not going to be able to turn that into an elite run-blocking unit in one offseason. 

The other thing is that teams are able to crowd the box against the Titans. Matt Hasselbeck is not a QB that is going to make defenses fear a deep attack, and Jake Locker, in his second year, is not going to make teams try and stop the pass first. 

Stopping the running game is going to be opposing defenses' first priority against the Titans, and Chris Johnson does not have the line or ability to overcome that.