Getty Image / Nick Grace
The Cincinnati Bengals have been an incredibly successful football team for the past 2 years.
Last year, they shocked the world by making a deep playoff run and knocking off the Chiefs in Kansas City to secure a place in the Super Bowl.
They fell short in that game, but have continued to rack up wins this year. The Bengals are currently 11-4 and are just a game back of the top seed in the AFC.
This week, they take on the Buffalo Bills in a matchup that will have a major impact on playoff seeding in the conference.
Ahead of the game, Bengals running back Joe Mixon revealed that he believes the Bengals are the big dogs in the AFC.
Joe Mixon: What people need to know and understand is we the big dog of the AFC. That’s just what is. For anything to happen, it has to go through us.
— Jay Morrison (@JayMorrisonATH) December 31, 2022
It’s a bold claim with the Bengals currently behind both the Chiefs and the Bills in the standings and are currently a slight underdog to the Bills for Monday night’s game.
The Bengals have already gotten a win over the Chiefs again this season to establish that they once again deserve to be mentioned among the AFC’s best.
However, it is very unlikely right now that the AFC will actually go through Cincinnati. To claim the top seed in the conference, the Bengals would have to get a win over the Bills on Monday and then follow that up with a Week 18 win over the Ravens.
They would also need the Chiefs to lose to either the Broncos this week or the Raiders next week in games where the Chiefs will be sizable favorites.
Mixon will need to hope the Cincinnati Bengals have another great playoff run in them or this claim could backfire on him in a big way.