The Bengals may be the No. 3 seed in the AFC. But they are still the defending conference champions after advancing to Super Bowl LVI last year.
That seems to be the attitude the club is embracing entering the postseason — at least as it’s explained by running back Joe Mixon.
“As I said, I believe last week or two weeks ago — and I stand on this — we’re the big dawgs of the AFC and everybody knows that,” Mixon said Thursday, via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “They’re gunning for us and we know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot. But at the end of the day, if we’re not turning the ball over and taking care of the little things, we can’t be beat.
“So, we’ve just go to go ahead and we’re going to take everybody’s best shot, but they better be ready to take ours.”
In a lot of ways, Mixon’s mindset seems to echo that of quarterback Joe Burrow, who said on Wednesday that it takes a certain level of arrogance to make big-time plays in the biggest moments.
"[I]t can be bulletin-board material for anybody. But the facts is the facts,” Mixon said. “When it comes down to it, we know when we take the field, can’t nobody touch us if we’re on our game. So, we’ve got to go out there, go ahead and take care of business. It ain’t no other way around it.”
The chalk path for the Bengals to defend their AFC title would be for the club to defeat the Ravens, then go on the road to Buffalo and Kansas City. But there is plenty of football to be played to determine that, starting with Sunday night’s contest against Baltimore.
