Bengals Joe Mixon rips NFL for ‘disrespectful’ playoff decision

NFL

Of Jenna Lemoncelli

January 20, 2023 | 08:36

The NFL has pissed off Joe Mixon again.

The Bengals running back was not happy when asked about the NFL selling tickets to a neutral site AFC Championship Game on Wednesday.

“I mean, to be honest, it’s disrespectful,” Mixon told WCPO’s Marshall Kramsky. “We’re not worried about that s–t. We have a game to play on Sunday, right? So you can’t count us out.

“We have a game to play on Sunday. All this doesn’t mean s–t. We’re going to go out there on Sunday and do what we have to do to make it happen [win]then we’ll see what they’re talking about.”

On Wednesday, tickets for a potential neutral-site AFC Championship game between the Chiefs and Bills in Atlanta went on sale. The Chiefs host the Jaguars in Saturday’s game in the divisional round. Should the Bengals or Jaguars advance, the higher seed will host the conference title game.

The Bengals face the Bills in the AFC Divisional Round playoffs on Sunday — 20 days after their Week 17 game was interrupted in the first quarter and ultimately canceled after Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field. Hamlin was released from the hospital and has been spending time with teammates as they make the playoffs.

Mixon’s comments came after he previously expressed his frustration with the NFL’s handling of the playoff format. The running back was frustrated that the NFL decided that the AFC North Division would be decided by a coin flip if the Bengals had lost to the Ravens in Week 18. Cincinnati’s victory in the Finals clinched the NFL’s reigning standings.