George Willis

George Willis

NFL

Jets RB Powell could win battle vs. Titans star

If you suggested a few weeks ago the Jets’ matchup against the Titans would hinge on the duel between running backs Bilal Powell and Chris Johnson, you figured the Jets were in serious trouble.

Johnson is a perennial All-Pro, who once ran for 2,006 yards in a season, and is making $10 million. Powell came into this season with 458 career yards rushing after having been a fourth-round pick in 2011. His salary is roughly $645,000.

Yet Sunday’s game in Nashville could depend on who is the more productive running back and it’s no longer foolish to think Powell might have the better day.

For the Jets to be relevant this year, they’ll need a few players to have bigger impacts than expected. Powell is at the top of that list after rushing for a career-high 149 yards in the Jets’ 27-20 win over the Bills on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. The success of the running game opened up the passing game and Geno Smith passed for 331 yards as the Jets totaled 513 yards of offense.

It’s the big throws and big arm of Smith that captured the highlights. But it’s the constant threat of a productive running game that keeps a defense guessing.

“We haven’t had the full arsenal of backs that we have,” Smith said Wednesday. “But the guys that have been in there have run hard and the offensive line has done a phenomenal job of moving guys and opening holes. Once we get everyone back and are able to mix guys in and play to their strengths, we’ll be even better. But the running game has been phenomenal and I hope it continues to improve and stays steady.”

Powell versus Johnson still looks like a mismatch on paper, even though there’s not much of a difference in their total rush yards after three games. Powell has 52 carries for 226 yards; Johnson has 69 for 256 yards. But Johnson has proven game-breaking speed which the Jets are familiar with having watched him run 94 yards for a touchdown in the Titans’ 14-10 win in Nashville last year.

“I like to maximize every carry that I get,” Johnson said.

Stopping Johnson will be the top priority of the Jets’ defense. But stopping Powell as a Titans’ objective doesn’t sound quite right after he came into training camp as an afterthought.

The Jets let Shonn Greene go, and he headed for the Titans and signed a three-year $10 million contract. The Jets looked to replace his production by signing Chris Ivory and Mike Goodson. But Goodson has to serve one more game of a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, while Ivory suffered a recurrence of a hamstring injury that has bothered him since training camp.

That has given Powell the chance to show he can be productive.

“He’s soft-spoken,” guard Willie Colon said, “but when he has the ball in his hands, he fights hard. He’s starting to finish runs. He’s starting to get confidence in us and we have confidence in him.”

The Jets and Titans are tied with the NFL’s sixth best rushing offenses, averaging for 133 yards per game. That might suggest a back making $10 million isn’t much different than one making $645,000. But that might be underestimating Johnson, who is second only to Adrian Peterson in yards gained since 2008 (7,789 -7,144). The Jets have done a decent job shutting down opposing backs this season, allowing 79.7 yards per game. Johnson poses a much more dangerous threat.

“We have to set the edges to make sure Chris doesn’t get a long run on us,” said Muhammad Wilkerson. “I know he had a 94 [-yarder] on us last year. We have to contain him.”

I wonder if the Titans are saying the same thing about Powell?