David Johnson leads the way for the Cardinals as they continue to round into form

The Arizona Cardinals earned their second consecutive primetime win Monday night, after they knocked off the New York Jets by a score of 28-3.

David Johnson continued his dominant play, and put together a pretty good game in the first half. Johnson had 11 carries for 69 yards and two touchdowns, helping the Cardinals jump out to a 14-3 lead on the Jets.

This particular 58-yard run got things started for the Cardinals offensively, as they chipped away at the Jets defense as the half progressed:

It was a great two-quarter followup to his Thursday night performance last week against the San Francisco 49ers, when he had 157 rushing yards and two scores. After the team’s slow start to the season at 1-3, Johnson’s two big performances have been exactly what the Cardinals needed.

The Jets offense struggled in the first half. Ryan Fitzpatrick completed nine of his 19 passes in the half, but they couldn’t get their run game going. Matt Forte, who’s had a great year otherwise, had seven carries for 18 yards after two quarters and added just 1 more rushing yard in the second half.

Johnson kept his scoring going in the second half, getting into the end zone late in the third quarter to put the Cardinals up 21-3. Their passing game wasn’t particularly fearsome, but Johnson did his part on the ground and finished with 111 yards.

Ryan Fitzpatrick’s rough night continued in the second half. Just as it appeared that the Jets were driving and might make the game interesting, Fitzpatrick was intercepted by D.J. Swearinger in the end zone.

Carson Palmer solidified his contributions in the game with a touchdown pass to Michael Floyd to put the Cardinals up 28-3.

With the game being out of reach, Fitzpatrick’s ineffectiveness led to a Geno Smith appearance in the fourth quarter. Smith looked like he might have been putting together a drive, but he was intercepted by Tyrann Mathieu.

The win helps the Cardinals keep up with the first-place Seahawks (4-1), who had a close call against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. They’re now even with the Rams at 3-3 in the NFC West, and have a Sunday night matchup looming with the Seahawks next week at home.

The Jets are now 1-5 on the season, and their season outlook doesn’t look good. The Patriots are atop the AFC East at 5-1, with the Bills a close second at 4-2. A road win on Monday night was a lot to ask for, and was just too much for the Jets to come through on.