Two words. Joe Mixon!

What a day Mixon had against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. With 211 yards and a franchise-record five touchdowns, Mixon dominated and seemed to regain his old form. Understandably, there’s a lot of hype around Mixon now that he seems to have gotten back to the Joe Mixon fans are used to. In the run game, Mixon averaged a season-high 7 yards per carry. Leading up to this past Sunday, Mixon did not average more than 3 yards per carry, except for a couple of games where he averaged a little over 5 yards per carry.

But after Sunday’s historic game, there’s a question everyone should be asking themselves.

Is Joe Mixon really back?

While his performance was one to remember, NFL fans and Bengals fans should not be so quick to forget how the season has gone up to this point. There are arguments to be made as to why Joe Mixon was able to show out the way he did. This kind of performance should be expected against a Panthers defense that ranks toward the bottom of the NFL. Now, I am not a Joe Mixon hater, but this is certainly something to think about as the Bengals go into their much-needed bye week.

Joe Mixon’s performance throughout the rest of the season will be important to keep an eye on. Especially against their biggest opponents like the Bills, Chiefs, and Ravens. The second half of the season will be the hardest, so it will be crucial to the Bengals success that Joe Mixon only continues to improve this season. This team will have much to prove going forward the rest of the season; hopefully, with the return of some key players like Ja’Marr Chase and Dj Reader after the bye week, the Bengals can begin to make some noise.