It’s easy to look past the Cleveland Browns – Cincinnati Bengals encounter this weekend and focus on big-ticket items like the draft.
Makes sense given the trajectory of both franchises, right?
But when it comes to the game itself, storylines still abound. From individual achievements to the potential farewell of a franchise passer, these are the top storylines.
Joe Mixon’s push for 1,000: Talk about a wild ride for Mixon. Last year’s leading rusher in the AFC didn’t have a ton of preseason work and had a nagging injury to start the year. He then went criminally underused for the first three-fourths of the season — to the point Zac Taylor has admitted the team made a mistake there. But he’s erupted down the stretch, including 21 or more carries in three straight games to sit at 975 yards. Some might argue whether the 1,000-yard mark matters anymore, but it’ll mean something to Mixon and his linemen given how this season turned out. In the earlier loss to the Browns, he ran for 146 yards and a score on an average of six-plus yards.