TEMPE, Ariz. -- David Johnson is starting to play like it's 2016.

And it's been a long time coming.

Coming into 2018, and off a season in which he missed 15 games with a fractured wrist, Johnson shouldered the expectation that he'd return to his 2016 level with the Arizona Cardinals. That season the running back led the NFL with 2,118 all-purpose yards and 20 touchdowns, rushing for 1,239 yards to go along with 879 yards receiving. He was an All-Pro and a Pro Bowler.

The bar was set. And it was high.

But through the first seven games of this season, Johnson's performance dipped. He was a casualty of offensive coordinator Mike McCoy's stagnant offense, producing just one game with 100 yards from scrimmage. In the other six games he never got above 71. He never caught more than five passes in a game. His runs were becoming predictable. He wasn't used like he had been in the past.

Johnson -- and everybody, he said -- was frustrated. But growing up a triplet with two sisters taught him to be patient.

Everything changed almost immediately in Week 8, when Byron Leftwich replaced McCoy as offensive coordinator and was charged with resurrecting Johnson's season.

"Byron said the first thing he was going to try to do is to have me be utilized more as a receiver and a running back," Johnson said.

To do that, Leftwich dusted off the Cardinals' 2016 playbook and borrowed plays from former Cardinals coach Bruce Arians.

So far it's worked.

Johnson had 100 yards from scrimmage against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8 and then topped that in the next game. Johnson had the best game of his season Sunday in Kansas City, running for 98 yards and a touchdown in addition to 85 receiving yards and a score. The 183 all-purpose yards on a season-high 28 touches were his most since Oct. 6, 2016.

"It made me feel like it was back to ... two years ago -- the 2016 offense," Johnson said after Sunday's game. "We got some momentum going as an offense running the ball. We got some good confidence going, as well."

As the Cardinals prepare to play the Oakland Raiders this Sunday, coach Steve Wilks didn't mind one bit that Johnson was taken back in time against the Chiefs.

"As long as David is getting yardage and he's getting in the end zone, I don't care what it feels like," Wilks said.

Getting Johnson involved is the only thing Leftwich said he knows to do. Against the Chiefs, Johnson had his second-most carries this season (21) and most catches (seven) on his most targets (nine).

"I know what he is," Leftwich said. "I'm just trying to put these guys in position. I'm not really thinking about 2016. I'm just trying to use the guys and what I know of the playmakers and just put them in position to make plays and if it turns out to be him playing like he was in 2016, that'd be good for us."

Johnson has been implored by running backs coach Kirby Wilson to run more downhill and not bounce outside as much. The goal, Johnson said, is to turn 1-yard runs into 3-yard gains. While he did it more Sunday in Kansas City, it wasn't easy. One of Johnson's favorite moves is the jump-cut. Lowering his shoulder and bulldozing a defender isn't natural for him, he added. He'd prefer to create with cuts, moves and jukes.

To some of those Cardinals who were on the team in 2016, Sunday brought back old memories.

"When he's playing like that and making plays in the screen game, in the passing game, in the running game, he makes it look easy," Fitzgerald said.

And a smile came to tight end Jermaine Gresham's face when he started thinking about the second iteration of this year's offense resembling 2016's.

"Ooh, it feels good," Gresham said. "It feels good just to maintain drives. More than anything, just being able to help the defense stay off the field as much so being more complete as a team. I think us as an offense, if we can keep continuing to get better and make strides to get better, it'll only help this team evolve better and it feels good."

For the Cardinals, all that might be the most important byproduct of McCoy's firing.

When Johnson has a game like he did Sunday, it doesn't just bolster his stats -- and his fantasy numbers -- but it opens the field for the rest of the offense, Fitzgerald said.

Against the Chiefs, Johnson got into a "good rhythm," he said, which came with the more touches he had.

That's not expected to change this week against the Raiders.

His role, actually, is expected to continue to grow. That could be good news for the Cardinals but bad for the Raiders, whose coach, Jon Gruden, called Johnson a "joker" this week because Johnson's ability allows him to be used in "any hand."

"He's a complete, modern-day back," Gruden said. "He's what we're all looking for."

And Gruden will be seeing plenty of Johnson this weekend.

Fitzgerald said Johnson will be "a big piece of what we're trying to do, again."

Johnson wouldn't mind it if every week is like 2016.

"I definitely hope so," Johnson said. "I think it will. As Leftwich gets more comfortable being an offensive coordinator and everyone gets more comfortable playing together and hopefully staying healthy, we'll definitely get to that."