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Cincinnati Bengals Film Breakdown: How Joe Mixon Demolished the Carolina Panthers

Mixon led Cincinnati to a 42-21 win over Carolina.

Mike Santagata

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Despite a slow start to the season, Joe Mixon may have just had the best game of his career. He ran for 153 yards and four touchdowns against the Panthers, while also catching four passes for 58 yards and another score. 

This is the first time he's finished with over 200 from scrimmage and he was efficient in the process. Mixon averaged 7-yards per carry on the ground and 11.6 yards per target as a receiver. The five touchdowns scored are a Bengals franchise record.

Let’s take a deep dive into his record setting day.

While the offensive line played very well on Sunday, Mixon still deserves credit for what he was able to do as well. No one blocks the MIKE linebacker on the play above, but Mixon puts a move on him and makes him miss to pick up positive yardage, which is something he's struggled with this season. On the first carry of the game, Mixon showed that this game was going to be different from him.

Mixon gets a great block from his rookie left guard on this screen to spring him into the open field and once he hits the open field he becomes a monster. He makes a nice cut to get away from one defensive back and then lifts his feet at the perfect time to avoid the shoestring tackle from another Panther. He then makes another cut and runs through contact to finish this play. This is by far Mixon’s longest catch of the season going for 35 yards. His previous season high was 22 yards against Atlanta.

This play didn't require much from Mixon as the Bengals' offensive line just dominated the Panthers' defensive line. Ted Karras and Alex Cappa work a combination block that drives Derrick Brown about 6-yards deep with Cappa coming off to the linebacker to seal him as well. La’el Collins and Hayden Hurst get enough of their guys to take them out of the play while Cordell Volson drives the 3-technique sideways. Mixon goes about six yards before anyone touches him.

To finish the first drive, the Bengals got to a crack toss play. The wrinkle is that it came from the gun as a way to attack the edge from the same side. The play side end never feels the crack coming so he gets washed down and then Jonah Williams does a very nice job to lead the way for the touchdown on his pull. Stanley Morgan Jr. also deserves some credit for his block on the outside. This is another play where the offensive line and wide receivers paved the way for an easy score from Mixon.

This play was my personal favorite of the day from the Bengals' offensive line. The Bengals are running GT counter. This is a gap running play where the guard is going to kick out the playside end while the tackle will wrap behind him to the second level to take on the linebacker. 

The Bengals run this to perfection. The double team from Collins and Cappa drives the 3-technique into the backside linebacker. Neither player even needs to come off of this block because they got so much movement that the defensive tackle ends up blocking his own guy. Volson has had some issues this season with his pulling, but here he does a very nice job to get his head to the inside which allows him to better kick out and seal the end. Williams has another nice pull and lead to the second level springing Mixon to run free. He makes a fantastic cut to make a defender miss giving him about 20 extra yards on the play as well.

This crack toss play comes with a new wrinkle. This time they jet motion Morgan to lead block on the toss and he does an incredible job at kicking his guy out. Tyler Boyd is tasked with slowing down the end on a crack block and does just enough to keep him out of the play. Williams and Mitchell Wilcox are the final piece on the play side as they pull around to lead through the hole. They both get a good seal on their defenders and the free safety is the one to make the play. Also, take a look at Karras at center. He shows off some uncanny ability here as he slips the head up nose tackle to get a piece of the backside linebacker.

This is a great example of Mixon’s decisive cutting ability along with his power. The Bengals are running duo, but because of the front, there are no double teams. It almost works as if they’re just washing everyone down the line. The MIKE is designed to be unblocked on this and Mixon makes his decision off of what that player does. The MIKE stays, so Mixon bounces this. Mixon is one on one with a corner and just plows through him like tissue paper.

Mixon shows off some of the burst that’s been missing this season on this play. This is windback and typically he should wait for Morgan to get in front of him and lead block, but instead he sees that Trent Taylor has missed his block. This forces Mixon to bounce this quicker than he would like to, but he accelerates very well and is able to gain the corner. From there it’s just a foot race and he wins.

This play highlights Mixon’s beautiful jumpcut. The draw plays works like a charm despite the Bengals not passing the ball all that much in this game. Mixon does a fantastic job of reading his blocks and sets #7 up by pressing vertically before his dramatic jumpcut. Once he cuts, he gets north immediately again and runs through contact for additional yardage.

This draw play showcases the vision again, but it’s a little bit different. He has less room to work with and Karras loses his block. Mixon makes a great cut though which puts Karras back in good position despite having his face crossed. He then stops on one foot to get vertical again where he slithers his way in-between a pair of blocks. Just like he did all game, he finishes the run by lowering his shoulder and running through contact.

Mixon displayed incredible receiving ability on this reception. Not often is a running back going to get open after the play breaks down as part of a scramble drill, but that’s exactly what Mixon does. He also displays very nice body control and awareness to get both feet down in bounds after making the catch.

For Mixon’s final touchdown, the Bengals came out in a 13 personnel look, but utilized an extra offensive lineman rather than a third tight end. This is another duo play that Mixon is going to bounce because of the read. With the MIKE linebacker coming downhill quickly, Mixon smartly reacts by bouncing it to the outside. He’s untouched because of a very nice block from Hakeem Adeniji, who entered the game as an extra offensive lineman. Once he bounces it’s just him against a corner one on one and he possesses so much burst that he makes the cornerback’s angel obsolete.

Not only was this Mixon's best game statistically, but this game might be the greatest game of Mixon’s career. There are some of the quintessential Mixon plays in here where he displays fantastic vision, power, and burst, but he even played with elusiveness in this game as he made defenders miss in the open field quite a bit. 

Even last year, which was maybe Mixon’s best season to date, he still didn't make defenders miss in the open field that often. He typically prefers to lower his shoulder and punish those defenders. His offensive line did an incredible job in this game as well, but even on the few plays that they messed up, Mixon would make something out of nothing. To go with his awe inspiring ground performance, he was a monster as a receiver as well. That scramble drill touchdown showed receiving level ability that is rare among running backs. If Mixon is back and better than ever for the home stretch, this team is going to be hard to stop on offense.

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Mike Santagata
MIKE SANTAGATA

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