Joe Mixon assessed what the Los Angeles Rams' defense was giving him, made a slick cut and rushed the ball 14 yards for a Cincinnati Bengals' touchdown.
The Bengals rode the third-quarter play to snatch their first lead of the game and never looked back toward a 19-16 home victory over the Rams on Monday Night Football. Evan McPherson connected on 4-of-5 field goals to further power the Bengals (1-2) to their first victory of the season.
Mixon finished with 65 yards rushing and the Bengals' lone TD of the game, while quarterback Joe Burrow threw for 259 yards and linked up with Ja'Marr Chase for 12 receptions and 141 yards.
Perhaps, most importantly, Burrow didn't tweak his calf injury.
"It was a great first win of the year," Burrow told ESPN after the game. "No matter how it looks, we got it done. We got through it, no injuries, so we're moving onto next week."
About his lingering injury, he added: "Every week will be better as long as there's no more setbacks, so we're going to keep working hard to get healthy."
The Bengals trailed, 9-6, in the third quarter before Mixon's rushing TD put them up for good. McPherson would tack on his third and fourth field goals of the game, making Matt Stafford's 1-yard TD pass to pull the Rams within 19-16 with 1:03 left, too little too late.
With the loss, the Rams fell to 1-2.