Cardinals' David Johnson: Strikes for three TD runs Saturday

Johnson tallied 28 carries for 95 yards and three touchdowns during Saturday's 34-31 win at Seattle.

Analysis:

Like a sculptor chipping away at a piece of marble, head coach Bruce Arians stuck with the chisel that is David Johnson against the formidable Seahawks defense, as he did in their first meeting of the season in Week 7, a 6-6 tie in which he logged a career-high 33 rushes. After ripping off a 13-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, Johnson failed to reach 10 yards on each of his ensuing 17 carries, including three negative plays and his third lost fumble of the season. Despite the mishits, he concluded three Cardinals possessions with precise end-zone strikes from two or less yards away. The last score pushed the lead to 28-18, and after increasing the cushion to 13 points with 4:15 remaining, the Seahawks responded with a pair of touchdown drives of their own to knot up the score at 31, where it remained courtesy of a Steven Hauschka missed PAT with a minute showing on the clock. Thereafter, Johnson transformed from bludgeoning back to refined route runner, notching the Cardinals' two largest chunk plays to set up Chandler Catanzaro's game-winning field goal. Those receptions extended Johnson's NFL record with 100-plus yards from scrimmage to start a season to 15 games, tying Barry Sanders for the longest such streak of all time. Johnson will wrap up his second campaign with a visit to Los Angeles, whose Rams have contained opposing backfields to 155 total rushing yards over the last three contests.