Saturday, October 23, 2010

What's wrong with CJ2K?

Now at first it may sound strange to think something is wrong with a running back that stands second in the league in rushing yards and fantasy points. But compared to last year his yards/carry is down and after watching every snap, all is not right in the Tennessee backfield.

1. Defense
Defenses are keying on Chris Johnson. Not exactly a surprise, but they are doing a very good job of containing him by blocking his path to the edge.

2. Playcalling
The Titans are playing right into the defense's hand. Over and over again, they simply hand the ball off to him in the middle of the field. I never see a pulling guard leading the way to the edge. I never see Vince Young move out of the pocket and swing it to Johnson on the edge. Every play, Johnson ends up sitting in the middle with no hole to run to and the edges covered.

3. Trying to break one
CJ set some pretty lofty goals for himself and he has been clearly aiming to take each carry to the bank. Now, with the aforementioned problems, this leads to the back sitting in the backfield looking for a place to go that just isn't there. By ignoring potential 4-5 yard gains, he hurts himself in the end. The big runs will be there if he runs hard and lets them happen, like he did last year.

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