Stepping up

Rodger Sherman of theringer.com calls the Alliance of American Football one of the winners of the NFL Week 15 schedule.

Quarterback Josh Johnson, who was selected No. 1 overall by the AAF’s San Diego Fleet, started for the Washington Redskins on Sunday in Jacksonville. Johnson led the Redskins to a 16-13 victory over the Jaguars.

“Normally, you’d think it would be a bad thing for a league’s No. 1 draft pick to ditch the league for a better opportunity within a week,” Sherman wrote. “But Johnson’s stint in Washington might be the best thing ever to happen to the AAF. Last week, Johnson seized the QB1 spot from [Mark] Sanchez by throwing for a touchdown and running for another. This week, he led Washington to a stunning 16-13 win over the Jaguars.

“Was he good? I don’t know about good, but he threw a touchdown and played mistakefree football, enough for Washington to beat a Jacksonville squad that had just 20 net passing yards.

“At one point, the announcer exclaimed, ‘This guy was the no. 1 pick in the AAF!’ I’m sure what he was trying to portray was that Johnson was truly seized off the scrap heap — look, this guy was just drafted into some league nobody’s heard of, and now he’s winning games in the pros. But it kinda sounded like he was vouching for Johnson’s potential — he used the words No. 1 pick. I’m sure at least a few people Googled ‘AAF Football.’ “