MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
Ty Johnson? Every “best game yet” he plays for the Buffalo Bills makes me laugh, and it makes me laugh out loud. And I know I’m not alone. Everyone here supports this guy, because this guy always supports us.
Yet I still hear in my mind, “He’ll never play a down at Maryland” 10 years later when I watch him play in the NFL, because Ty had such a hard time getting onto the field in College Park that when he graduated from Maryland he finished his career as one of just four players in school history to have gained 4,000 all-purpose yards along with Stefon Diggs, Torrey Smith and LaMont Jordan.
If only he had gotten on the field …
Still, I heard those words when he was drafted in the sixth round by the Detroit Lions. I heard them when he excelled with the New York Jets, and I heard them when the Jets (just a reminder, a team I’ve never liked or trusted) released him after he had a surgery he didn’t want to have but did so because the Jets told him to have it. I am certain Ty heard those words or some such motivation as well, for it has always been in crunch times such as these that he summons his best to seize the moment, going back to his time as a two-time consensus All-State player for the Fort Hill Sentinels.
As CBS NFL analyst Tony Romo told the nation last Sunday (at length), all Ty Johnson has ever needed is a chance and he’s going to deliver. Well, last year, newly-installed Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady gave Ty his chance in the 11th week of the season after he had signed with the team late in training camp and spent six weeks on the practice squad.
Brady realized what he had in Ty Johnson and utilized his skills, his hard work and his understanding of the game; and on a Sunday night national TV game against the (stupid) Jets, Ty took advantage of his opportunity, taking in a 28-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Josh Allen on a jet-sweep play-fake on fourth and 1 and turned on his 4.40 speed to tight-rope the right sideline into the end zone to extend the Bills’ lead to 22-6 in what became an important 32-6 victory.
Man, just don’t bet against Ty Johnson. If you do, you’re going to lose.
Then, of course, last Sunday, on the way to the 11-3 Bills’ 48-42 win over the Lions in Detroit, Allen again turned to Johnson, who just happened to be mic’d for the first time in his career.
On being mic’d up, he said, “I don’t know what to do.”
Of course, he did. On a third and 5, he found an empty spot in the middle of the field and, in the middle of a slide, picked the improvised Allen pass just off the turf for a 24-yard gain. Two plays later, Allen jumped into the end zone for the 7-0 lead.
In the end, Ty had the best game of his career, catching five passes for 114 yards – the most by a Bills running back since Joe Cribbs in 1981 – and four of them went for at least 19 yards in a game that Buffalo’s running backs Johnson, James Cook and Ray Davis exploited Detroit’s man-to-man coverage for a combined eight catches for 156 yards and a touchdown.
Johnson has created his role as the Bills’ third-down back and the go-to back on passing downs with three of his 16 catches going for touchdowns.
“(Coach Brady) was telling us all week we have to eat when they go man,” Johnson told the Niagara Gazette. “And he told me yesterday, especially on third downs, it’s go eat, go win. And I’m just grateful he gave me the opportunity.”
According to the Gazette, Brady and Johnson came up with a route tree both were comfortable with in the offseason after Ty re-signed with the Bills on a one-year deal.
“I trust Coach J.B. and appreciate him the most,” Johnson said. “I told him I’m thankful for the permission to have opportunities to execute. Ever since that Jets game, he told me to keep doing you and it’s going to come.”
After playing 20 snaps twice in the first nine games, Ty has surpassed 20 snaps in four of the last five games and played a season-high 33 against the Kansas City Chiefs. He has become the primary backup, his speed allows the Bills to line him up anywhere, he is a solid pass blocker and continues to play special teams
According to the Gazette, when he’s on the field, 56% of the time it’s on third or fourth down. And nine of his 16 catches (for 126 yards) have come on those downs, including a 31-yard grab on fourth and 2 against the Lions.
“I think he’s the best third-down back in the game,” Allen said. “The way that we communicate, the way that he sees protections, it’s quarterback-like. He just plays the game the right way. He’s another guy on this team that we don’t really call a running back, he’s a football player that plays running back.”
Ty Johnson is a football player. We knew that, but this is coming from one of the three best quarterbacks in the NFL, who may well end up being the NFL Most Valuable Player.
Ty Johnson is playing a lot of downs for the first-place Buffalo Bills. Those are the words I hear, and seeing this every week makes me laugh.
It makes me laugh out loud.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT