The Tennessee Titans have found the right formula on offense.
Give the football to Chris Johnson as often as he can handle it, throw a key block or two, and get out of the way.
For the most part, Johnson has been doing the rest as he now leads the NFL in rushing with 959 yards, more than 100 yards better than his next closest challenger, Cincinnati's Cedric Benson with 837 yards.
Johnson was the cornerstone of the Titans offense again Sunday, going for 135 yards on 25 carries and scoring two touchdowns in a 34-27 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, giving Tennessee two straight wins after an 0-6 start.
Johnson's workload has increased steadily since the Titans came back from their bye week. In the six losses, Johnson averaged just under 16 carries per game and topped 20 carries just once.
The past two games, however, Johnson got 24 attempts against Jacksonville and 25 more Sunday in San Francisco.
The second-year back, who is averaging 6.7 yards per carry, welcomes the extra work, and says it's something he planned for in the offseason.
"I talked to (running backs) coach (Earnest) Byner in the offseason and that was the whole thing of me not being in Nashville and working out and stuff," Johnson said. "I told them that some of the goals I wanted to accomplish and how many times I wanted the ball, and I let them know I was down there in Florida working hard, and they saw by the way I worked in the offseason, that made me able to carry the ball 25 times."
Johnson split carries with LenDale White last year, getting just 251 attempts in rushing for 1,228 yards as a rookie.
This time, however, he is getting the lion's share, as White has been relegated to purely backup status with only 56 carries, compared to Johnson's 144.
Titans coach Jeff Fisher said it was the need to use Johnson's speed against opponents like Jacksonville and San Francisco. But the truth of the matter is, a desperate team like the Titans can't afford to have its best offensive weapon on the sidelines for too long.
"I think it's the nature of the teams we've played. I'd like to see LenDale get more carries, but it's just the nature of the teams we've played," Fisher said Monday. "We felt like we need our run game to beat them (49ers) with the speed. And nobody else has done that this year to them."
The 49ers entered the game with the second-best run defense in the league, but dropped to fifth after Johnson's efforts Sunday.
Look for more of the same this week, as Buffalo visits this Sunday and has the league's worst-ranked run defense.
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