Ahead of Sunday’s tilt with the Cleveland Browns, running back Joe Mixon intimated that the Bengals have been playing somewhat scared.

“I’m tired of playing not to lose, rather than playing to win,” he said, via Elise Jesse of WLWT-TV in Cincinnati. “We just got to go out there, and we got to go win. We’ve just got to do it instead of just keep talking about it. Just go put it out there and go win.”

“I want to play to WIN. I’m tired of playing not to lose. We have the talent to do that”- Joe Mixon — Elise Jesse (@Elise_JesseWLWT) November 21, 2018

Despite the recent spiral, the 5-5 Bengals still are in the AFC playoff picture.

Our @Elise_JesseWLWT sat down with a very candid Joe Mixon today, HEAR his thoughts on losing and much more tonight at 6:00 on @WLWT #Bengals #SeizeTheDEY pic.twitter.com/haLDn7HGUC — Mark Slaughter (@MarkVSlaughter) November 21, 2018

A win against Cleveland could be a boost towards a stretch run.

A loss to Baker Mayfield & Co. could put Cincy out of contention.

I think Herm Edwards said it best, the best way to play the game…well you know the rest.

Hello.