David Johnson's Brilliance Ends Cardinals' Offensive Identity Crisis

Last year, the Arizona Cardinals won 13 games, propelled to the NFC West title by one of the NFL's most prolific passing attacks.

In 2016, quarterback Carson Palmer and the passing game have struggled. So has the team, losing three of its first four games.

However, in winning its last two contests, Arizona has happened upon a recipe for success, the right combination of ingredients to get the Cardinals back in the race in the NFC West.

After downing the flailing New York Jets 28-3 on Monday night—ahead of another prime-time matchup with the division-leading Seattle Seahawks—Arizona needs to feed its beast.

The Cardinals need to get tailback David Johnson the football.

Mind you, it isn't like this is some sort of epiphany. In the five games Johnson had played this season entering Monday night, the second-year pro topped 100 total yards, well, five times.

Week	Opponent	Rush Yds	Rec Yds	Rush TD*
1	Patriots	89	43	1
2	Buccaneers	45	98	0
3	Bills	83	28	2
4	Rams	83	41	0
5	49ers	157	28	2
6	Jets	111	27	3

Johnson was coming off his best effort of the season—a 185-yard, two-touchdown explosion against the San Francisco 49ers.

It didn't take long for Johnson to serve notice to the Jets that he intended to build on that big game. On his second carry of the night, the Northern Iowa product took the ball off the left side, waited for the hole to develop and then...

Buh-bye.

And he was only getting started. Johnson added a two-yard score in the second quarter.

Then, just because he could, Johnson found the end zone a third time from two yards out in the third, completing his second career touchdown hat trick:

By night's end, Johnson had rushed for 111 yards on 22 carries against a Jets defense that had entered the game leading the NFL in run defense. He added 27 yards on three receptions. And the three rushing touchdowns gave the 24-year-old a league-leading eight scores on the ground. Johnson is also tops in the NFL in yards from scrimmage.

Oh, and he is the first player in Cardinals history to peel off six games in a row with 100-plus total yards. That's an impressive record for a team that was founded in 1920.

His huge game also solidified Johnson's status as the engine driving the Arizona offense.

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Even against a pass defense so bad it must be seen to be believed (watching Darrelle Revis at this point is just depressing—almost as depressing as watching Buster "Flag on the Play" Skrine), Palmer was just OK on Monday. He avoided turning the ball over (barely—he fumbled twice), but Palmer also missed several throws en route to 213 passing yards and one score.

Palmer wasn't the worst quarterback on the field Monday, not with Ryan Fitzpicktrick in the house, but he wasn't a world-beater, either. The fact is, for whatever reason, Palmer hasn't been the same player since he hurt his hand last year. He hasn't even been close.

So, the Cardinals need to stop pretending he is. Especially since defenses have schemed to rob head coach Bruce Arians of the vertical passes he loves so much in 2016.

Let them take away the deep middle. Heck, encourage them to. Then Johnson can feast on the soft belly of reeling defenses. You want to guarantee that those safeties who have been playing deep will start creeping up into the box? Peel off a fistful of double-digit gains on the ground. Rip off a long scoring run.

In other words, do exactly what Johnson did Monday.

After the game, Johnson hedged a bit when asked by ESPN's Steve Levy if the win was a season-saver for the Cardinals.

"I feel like we definitely made our season a little better, a little easier for us to make it to the end," Johnson said. "But we've got to take it game by game, and I've got to continue to do my job. Blocking, running the ball, running routes...stuff like that to help the team win."

He's right. At 3-3, the Cardinals are far from out of the woods, and the sledding's going to be tough Sunday night against Seattle's second-ranked run defense.

But in at least one respect Johnson was mistaken. Arians is widely considered an offensive mastermind, but it doesn't take a guru to figure out that when you have arguably the league's best running back and a struggling quarterback, it might be a good idea to ride the former.

Johnson isn't helping the Cardinals win. He's carrying them to wins.

And if they want to keep the victories coming, they need to keep feeding the beast.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter: @IDPSharks.