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This will be a fairly short post, because I'm not going to keep you waiting. For a long time, I have said Chris Johnson was done. His career looked like it fell off a cliff. It was an absolute mess with no sign of improving. Yet, here we are and Chris Johnson has somehow turned things around. In that respect, I will fully admit I was wrong. Now, I want to be clear on these next points. His play right now is excellent. That is the subject of this post. In the offseason, I may still argue to move on from him, depending on how he plays down the stretch. There are other variables to consider: money, age, free agent goals, etc at that time. Right now, none of those matter. He is playing well and deserves the praise he's getting around the league.
Let's look at his last five games:
Week 6: 91 yards, 4.79 average
Week 7: 195 yards, 10.83 average
Week 8: 99 yards, 4.71 average
Week 9: 141 yards, 8.81 average
Week 10: 126 yards, 5.48 average
Average: 130.4 yards per game
Oh, and he's launched himself into fourth place in rushing yards so far this season.
Simply put, Chris Johnson is on a tear. He's reeled off five straight solid games and has to be drooling over the thought of going up against the 29th ranked Jaguars defense in two weeks. His offensive line has helped him out greatly. The much-maligned unit has steadily improved this season (even if they still have a long way to go in run blocking). It seems like something has finally clicked in the run game. Maybe its the use of a lead blocker, or the use of more blocking tight ends. Its likely a result of those factors, and that he is finally hitting the holes that are there.
All of this is good news for Titans fans, clearly. With a young QB in Jake Locker, having a competent run game is going to be a tremendous help (and in the last five games, its even been above competent). When I watched CJ run to the right side, double back to the middle of the field and scamper into the endzone, I finally thought we were watching a playmaker. Let's hope he can keep it going.