Despite having a 2021 season that was his best both individually and from a team standpoint, Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon wishes that one particular thing played out differently.
Mixon spoke with reporters on Sunday and revealed that he regrets not fighting harder to be out on the field for the final drive of Super Bowl LVI.
“It was just a caught up in the moment thing,” said the Pro Bowler Mixon, per Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I really should have taken initiative on myself and just been like, ‘Hey, I’m coming in [the game].’ But you know, it was the heat of the moment.
“It’s last year [though] and, you know, obviously we’re in 2022,” Mixon went on. “We’re trying to go ahead and do whatever we can to repeat and get back in that same situation and when we are in that situation, damn sure you know I’ll be in.”
Mixon, who was one of Cincinnati’s most dynamic offensive players all year, deferred to Bengals coach Zac Taylor’s decision to go with backup Samaje Perine over him during the final offensive drive of the Super Bowl. It was a two-minute drill-oriented decision, but the gutsy call backfired. Perine got stuffed on a critical 3rd-and-1 situation at midfield, forcing Cincinnati to burn a timeout. Then on fourth down the next play, QB Joe Burrow fired a desperation heave to Perine that fell incomplete for a turnover on downs, effectively ending the game.
Taylor took a lot of blame for the decision and was forced to explain himself at the time. But Mixon thinks that he himself deserves some of the heat too.
