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Joe Mixon is slowly becoming a star in this league, and he’s beginning to get recognized for it.
Mixon is coming off his best game as a pro — a 165 total-yard effort in a 30-16 win over the Cleveland Browns. The Cincinnati Bengals needed every yard of it in a game that saw Cleveland stay competitive for four quarters and even cut the lead to single digits in the final seven minutes.
For his efforts, Mixon has been nominated for the NFL Ground Player of the Week, along with Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell and Saints running back Alvin Kamara.
All three running backs had big Week 13 efforts in their respective teams’ wins, but it was actually Mixon who did the most damage on the ground. He rushed for a career-high 114 yards, while Bell went for 95 on the ground (had 88 yards in through the air), and Kamara had just 87 (101 through the air).
So technically, Mixon was far and away the best player on the ground, while Bell and Kamara were superior through the air.