Joe Mixon obvious bright spot in Bengals winners and losers from Week 9

The Cincinnati Bengals enter their BYE week with a 5-4 record and this win was 100% the Joe Mixon game. After a rough start to the year for Mixon, he showed in this game that he's still the same guy we've grown used to watching in recent years.

We'll start with Mixon for our winners and losers for Week 9.

Winners

Joe Mixon

I mean -- Did you watch the game?

Mixon finished with five touchdowns with four of those coming in the first half alone. He surpassed the 100-yard mark for the first time this season and proved that while he hasn't been his usual dominant self this year, he's by no means washed. He proved that with his five-touchdown performance and 211 scrimmage yards.

Bengals secondary

The team was throwing Eli Apple, Jalen Davis, and Cam Taylor-Britt out there as their starting cornerbacks and they, for the most part, played well. Taylor-Britt got burned by Terrance Marshall in the second half but otherwise, the unit held up their end of the bargain. The Panthers had nine yards passing in the first half.

Joe Burrow

The franchise quarterback bounced back after a not-so-great outing in Cleveland. He finished the game with just six incompletions while tossing for 206 yards and a touchdown. The numbers might not look great but Burrow recognized that Mixon was eating up the opposition and he stuck with handing off to him.

You know it's a good day for Burrow when he's happily sitting on the sidelines throughout the fourth quarter while Brandon Allen is out there doing his thing.

Losers

Chris Evans

While Evans couldn't help that he got injured, Sunday was the day for him to have a big day in the offense showing what he could do and he didn't get that chance.

Dax Hill

Same deal here. With so many injuries to the secondary, Hill should have had more opportunities to prove himself on Sunday but then he got injured himself.

Pass Rush

Zero sacks were made on P.J. Walker or Baker Mayfield. While the starters were pulled in the second half, that's a disappointing stat considering the amount of talent the Bengals have at the pass-rushing spot.

Evan McPherson

For the second straight game, the kicker formerly known as Money Mac struggled. He missed from 47 yards out and now has gone 4-of-7 on kicks from at least 40 yards out. He's not the same guy that helped lead this team to the AFC Championship and Super Bowl nine months ago.

Which other Bengals deserved to make this list as either a winner or a loser?

Stats courtesy of ESPN