These last few posts sum up a lot of my thoughts on it - for me personally, I would run Mixon in that situation even with a healthy Burrow. You have to remember, Mixon was getting good yardage. I mean, maybe it's less about running Mixon there and more about running Mixon *more* and saving Burrow some of the hits he took. They were running effectively, they probably could have afforded it a bit more. The modern NFL Offenses are tilting towards being idiotically tied to the pass. McVay loves to pass, you can tell just like everyone else, but he also knows that running can do some real damage in a lot of ways. It's hard to understate the importance of running, even when it's largely ineffective. That last part is what Scott doesn't understand at all.
All that said, I would not have had a major problem with a healthy Burrow getting the opportunity to get that first down. In that situation, with that clock? Definitely. I am only saying that in my opinion, Zac went with the worst option, and this is also because we have seen Samaje not get that pickup many times. I like him, but I have seen the big moments get the best of him (I'm not talking about Super Bowl saving drives, I am talking about regular season 3rd downs). I feel like he is not a lock in those situations. Maybe the Bengals have had a different experience with him though.
Just watching the actual game, though - man, Mixon looked like a force. When I saw them hand it off to Samaje, I was pretty shocked at the decision, but also I was unsurprised at the outcome.
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