Runningback David Johnson completed three touchdowns to lead the Arizona Cardinals over the New York Jets, 28-3, on Monday at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
It was the Cardinals' second straight primetime win, SB Nation reported. With the win, the Cardinals are now tied with the Los Angeles Rams at 3-3 in the NFC West.
Johnson rushed 22 times for 111 yards. He had a 58-yarder in the first quarter and a 2-yard run in the second, as the Cardinals raced to a 14-3 advantage.
Johnson scored again in the third quarter to put the Cardinals up 21-3. The Cardinals' passing wasn't particularly impressive, but Johnson did his part on the ground. Only in his sophomore year, many felt that David Johnson may already be the best running back in the game, according to CBS Sports.
In their previous game against the San Francisco 49ers, Johnson, a third-round pick out of Northern Iowa, had 157 rushing yards and two scores.
The Jets' Ryan Fitzpatrick completed nine of his 19 passes in the first half and finished with 16 of 31 for 174 yards. However, the Jets wasn't able to get their running game going. To make it worse, Fitzpatrick was intercepted by D.J. Swearinger in the end zone in the second half. The Jets also suffered a blow in the defensive end when they lost linebackers David Harris and Darron Lee, leaving them with insufficient tools to deal with the Cardinals' versatile offense.
Carson Palmer's touchdown pass to Michael Floyd settled the final score. While Palmer is a far cry from the MVP-caliber quarterback he was last season, he is vastly improving down the stretch.
With the game out of reach, Geno Smith was fielded in the fourth quarter and was looking good toward orchestrating a drive before he was intercepted by Tyrann Mathieu. Jets coach Todd Bowles announced that he will keep Fitzpatrick as his starter.
