3 Bengals players that must step up in the playoffs

Joe Mixon and the run game

As a pass-catcher, Joe Mixon has been doing his part over the past few weeks. The run game, however, needs to catch fire and it needs to do so quickly in the playoffs or else this team probably isn't going to go very far.

Mixon has failed to go over the 100-yard rushing mark since Week 9 against the Panthers when he had five touchdowns on the day. He came close in Week 14 against the Browns but otherwise, he's been underwhelming as a ball-carrier.

The run game has not been impressive this season and that needs to change because when this run game is cooking, it's really hard to stop this offense. The run game allows Joe Burrow to mix things up a little more through the air. It's a lot harder for him to do that when the run game isn't contributing.

If teams know that the Bengals can't run the ball very well, they're going to force Cincinnati into doing that, making it more difficult for Burrow to get anything going through the air.