Who Should I Start? Joe Mixon or Jaleel McLaughlin

Saturday, January 18, 7:44 PM

Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon was one of the few bright spots for his team in a season-ending defeat to Kansas City on Saturday, during which he compiled 100 yards from scrimmage and scored his team's only touchdown. The former Cincinnati Bengal rushed for a game-high 88 yards on 18 carries, and also hauled in two of his three targets for another 12 yards. Unfortunately for Houston, its pass protection and kicking game were major letdowns, as the line allowed eight sacks and kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn missed two field goals and an extra point. It was a largely productive first season in Houston for Mixon, who hit 1,000 yards rushing and scored 12 regular-season touchdowns, but Houston's season concludes in the Divisional Round for the second straight year.

Monday, January 13, 10:50 AM

Denver Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin was a complete non-factor in the team's 31-7 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday on wild-card weekend. Like most of the season, Denver's backfield was stuck in the mud and couldn't get anything going to control the game, with rookie quarterback Bo Nix leading the team with 43 rushing yards on four carries. McLaughlin, who had been the leader of a committee backfield late in the season, had only two rushing attempts for minus-two yards while catching his only target for no gain. It was a dismal end to the 24-year-old's second season in the NFL. He finished with 113 carries for 496 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and only one rushing touchdown in 16 regular-season games while adding 24 catches for 76 yards and two more TDs through the air. Denver will surely look to upgrade their backfield in the offseason to give more help to Nix in 2025.