WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Notes, Quotes

The Sports Xchange

December 20, 2018 at 1:01 pm.

–A renewed emphasis on the ground game in recent weeks is giving Joe Mixon a shot at finishing as the AFC rushing leader heading into the final two games.

Mixon’s 995 yards are fourth overall in the league behind Ezekiel Elliott, Todd Gurley II and Saquon Barkley. While he is 354 yards behind Elliott, he holds a slight lead in the AFC race.

He leads Denver’s Phillip Lindsay by four yards and is well ahead of Houston’s Lamar Miller (917), Pittsburgh’s James Conner (909) and Tennessee’s Derrick Henry (882).

The only time a Bengal won the conference’s rushing title was Paul Robinson in 1968 with 1,023 yards and Corey Dillon in 2001 with 1,315 yards. The only time a Bengals running back was in the top two in the AFC was Rudi Johnson in 2004.

Mixon is coming off consecutive 100-yard games on 53 carries. It is the most carries by a Bengal since Cedric Benson’s 56 carries in the last two games of the 2010 season.

This week he is facing the league’s 24th-ranked run defense and in the first meeting Mixon finished with 89 yards on 14 carries in a game the Bengals fell behind 28-0.

“We said two or three weeks ago, ‘We’ve got to continue riding on Joe’s shoulders,'” head coach Marvin Lewis said.

–The Pro Bowl announcement was made Tuesday night and defensive tackle Geno Atkins made it his seventh Pro Bowl.

Atkins now owns the most Pro Bowl selections for a Bengals defensive player, one ahead of Lemar Parrish. He is headed to Hawaii due to leading the Bengals with 10 sacks, second among interior defensive lineman. Atkins also leads the team with 19 quarterback hits and 13 tackles for loss.

“I think he’s had an outstanding year,” head coach Marvin Lewis said. “He’s played productively throughout the season.”

For the first time in his eight-year career, receiver A.J. Green did not make it in the voting and was named a fourth alternate to the game. Green would not have played in the game since he is recovering from last week’s toe surgery.

Cincinnati’s other alternates were special team captain Clayton Fejedelem, returner Alex Erickson and Joe Mixon.

BY THE NUMBERS: 42 and 21 — Those figures represent the third-down conversion rate for the Bengals offense and defense. The Bengals converted 8-of-19 third downs, representing a season-high. Defensively, they allowed Oakland to convert 3-of-14 third-down attempts, representing a season best. In the last three games, the Bengals are 18-for-45 on third downs while allowing opponents to convert 13-of-40. In each of those games, the Bengals possessed the ball for more than half the game.

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