National Football League

LT vs. LJ: Not what it once was

Published Oct. 25, 2009 11:46 p.m. ET

foxsports

It used to be LaDainian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson were the most prolific running backs in the NFL, AFC West foes trading yards and scores in football's best running back rivalry. Now, L.T. vs L.J. is just OK. At least Tomlinson has reason to hope. Johnson is mired in a seemingly never-ending cycle of frustration. Tomlinson took another step toward recovery from a nagging ankle injury, churning out 71 hard-fought yards on 23 carries Sunday in a 37-7 victory the struggling San Diego Chargers desperately needed. Across the field, Johnson muddled through the mud for 49 yards, never a factor in another disappointing loss for the Kansas City Chiefs. Once it was over, the two mutual-admiring Pro Bowlers met at midfield before breaking off in opposite directions. "We talked a little bit after the game, told him just to keep his head up and keep going, keep working hard. That's all he can do," Tomlinson said. "He's a strong guy, so I think he's taking it all in stride. You go through certain things in your career sometimes. How you come out of it says a lot about the person you are." They took different paths to get here. Johnson needed two years to establish himself in the NFL. Tomlinson was a star straight out of TCU in 2001. Coming off a 1-15 season, the Chargers traded away the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, bypassing a chance at Michael Vick to take Tomlinson fifth. L.T. made the Chargers look smart, piling up the yards, scoring touchdowns with his legs, hands and even his arm. Tomlinson rushed for over 1,200 yards his rookie season, won consecutive rushing titles in 2006-07. His 2006 season was one of the greatest in NFL history: 1,815 yards, records for touchdowns (31) and rushing touchdowns (28), an MVP award. Then came the injuries, followed by the past-his-prime rumblings. After leading the Chargers to a record 14 wins in 2007, Tomlinson injured his knee in the divisional playoffs, barely played in the AFC Championship against New England. He started off with a nagging toe injury last season, followed by a late-season groin injury, limiting him to a career-low 1,110 yards. With speedy Darren Sproles playing well and his durability in question, Tomlinson appeared to be headed out of San Diego during the offseason before San Diego president Dean Spanos decided to keep the five-time Pro Bowler. Bothered by a bothersome ankle injury, the 30-year-old got off to a slow start in his ninth season, managing just 70 yards on 20 carries the first four games. Tomlinson finally started to show signs of coming around last week, getting 100 total yards - 70 rushing - in a loss to Denver. L.T. took another step forward against the Chiefs, breaking off an early 36-yard run to set the tone for a much-needed win. So what if he had a TD run negated by a penalty, got plucked out of the air like a bird on another goal-line situation. This was progress. "Last week, we had a couple of creases that he hit and he was able to run the ball pretty well today," Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said. "That was good." Johnson is still waiting to get back the form that earned him two trips to the Pro Bowl. He set a team record with 1,750 yards in just nine starts in 2005. The next year, he joined Eric Dickerson and Terrell Davis as the only players in NFL history to have 1,750 yards in consecutive seasons. Johnson set an NFL record with 416 carries in 2006 and broke his own team record with 1,789 yards, losing out on the NFL's rushing crown because Tomlinson had 1,815 yards. That proved to be the pinnacle. It's been a slew of injuries, run-ins, malcontentedness and not much production since. Johnson missed training camp as a holdout in 2007 and was limited to eight games due to a foot injury, finishing with 559 yards and three touchdowns. In 2008, he was suspended for three games by the team for breaking team rules, another by the NFL for violating player conduct rules after being accused of shoving one woman at a bar and spitting in another's face in separate incidents. Johnson finished with 874 yards and five TDs, saying after the season that he wanted out of Kansas City. The new Chiefs regime of general manager Scott Pioli and coach Todd Haley offered hope and Johnson reported to training camp as happy as he's been since those two monster seasons. It hasn't changed his production. Johnson entered Sunday's game last among starting running backs with a 2.7 yards-per-carry average and had yet to score a touchdown. Even against the NFL's 27th-ranked defense, he couldn't get going, peeling off one 9-yard run and not much else in what may have been Kansas City's worst game in a season filled with bad games. "This organization has been doing since I've been here," Johnson said. "This is my third head coach in seven years of being here. It seems like this is what we keep doing, going back to the drawing board and you bring in new coaches, new organization, new schemes, mentality, new attitude; we've just got to do with what we can right now."