Joe Mixon was due for a big day, and it finally came at the expense of the Carolina Panthers.
The Cincinnati Bengals erupted for 153 rushing yards on 22 carries, 58 receiving yards on four receptions and five total touchdowns in Sunday’s 42-21 win on Sunday. The performance came after he had only scored three touchdowns across the Bengals’ first eight games.
Mixon got things started on the opening drive of the game with a 2-yard score:
It took three more drives for Mixon to get into the endzone again, but from then on, it was a complete takeover.
Already leading 14-0, Mixon got his second touchdown of the day from three yards out:
On the ensuing drive, he took a handoff, bounced it outside and beat the Panthers’ defense to the front right pylon for his third rushing score:
Mixon and the Bengals easily could have settled there, but they instead took things one level higher in the closing seconds of the first half.
Facing third-and-10, Mixon showed off his toe-drag swag with a 12-yard touchdown reception that capped off a dominant half of football:
In case anyone started to lose count of all his touchdowns, Mixon had people covered:
The career day continued into the second half. After the Panthers got on the board with an opening-drive touchdown in the third quarter, Mixon brought the Bengals’ lead to 42-7 with his fourth rushing TD of the day:
The Bengals finally took their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter and opted to play their backups. Had Mixon finished out the game, he would have had a chance at NFL – and fantasy football – history.
Mixon fell one score shy of the NFL record for total touchdowns in a game. Dub Jones, Gale Sayers and Alvin Kamara share that title with six apiece.
NFL
As for fantasy football, Mixon single-handedly won owners their matchups across the country. He notched 51.1 non-PPR points, the eighth-most ever recorded. He also had the 10th-best half-PPR total with 53.1 points and just missed out on the top 10 in full-PPR history with 55.1 points.