Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon had perhaps the worst statistical rushing game of his entire NFL career during Sunday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, totaling just 16 rushing yards on eight carries. But head coach Zac Taylor defended him after the game.
During his postgame press conference, Zac Taylor made it clear that he didn’t think that Joe Mixon was to blame for the team’s struggles to run the ball on Sunday afternoon.
“This has nothing to do with Joe Mixon,” Taylor told reporters according to Ben Baby of ESPN.com. “This is the entirety of the unit coming together.”
Without star quarterback Joe Burrow, the Steelers seemed to focus more on shutting down the Cincinnati rushing attack, leading to few opportunities for Mixon, even if Taylor thought he ran hard.
“Don’t make this about one person,” Taylor said. “It’s not like there were missed opportunities there from what I could see. He continues to run hard and he’s given us what we needed this season.”
It’s worth noting that even if he was largely ineffective on the ground, Mixon did account for one big play for the Bengals offense, taking a screen pass 39 yards downfield to help set up a late-game field goal that brought the Bengals within six points.
[ESPN]
