Joe Mixon is one of the Bengals' most dynamic playmakers, which was evident during the first half of the Sunday's game against the Steelers when the rookie running back rushed for 48 yards on seven carries during the Bengals' first three drives. The Bengals had eight more drives in the game but Mixon never touched the ball again.
The oversight didn't go unnoticed, particularly as Mixon's counterpart, Le'Veon Bell, finished the game with 134 rushing yards and and 58 receiving yards.
"Yeah, that's frustrating," Mixon said afterwards, via the Cincinnati Enquirer's Paul Dehner. "I felt like Bell got the ball 35 times. I get it seven. All in the first half then don't touch the ball again. Jeremy [Hill] got one touch in the second half. It was frustrating to us running backs. We are in the room and feel like we are a part of the offense. If it worked in the first half why not do it in the second?"
Mixon is the Bengals' best running back, better than Jeremy Hill or Giovani Bernard. And while he leads the team in carries (74) and yards (235) he's nowhere close to putting up numbers like Bell, who has 169 carries for 684 yards. And in Mixon's mind, that's the point.
"Me personally, I feel like I can do way more than [Bell] did. Like I said, I only had seven carries. I can't showcase nothing if I don't get the ball. There's nothing else I can say," Mixon said, via ESPN.com's Katherine Terrell.
He's not wrong, particularly when the offense, which came into the game ranked 23rd, is in desperate need of some consistency.
When Mixon's concerns were brought to the attention of coach Marvin Lewis, he offered this: "He was in there in the third quarter. Whatever plays are called are called."
Those plays weren't working; the Steelers held the Bengals to 19 yards in the second half. Cincinnati has now lost five straight and eight of nine to Pittsburgh.
