For all of the criticism Najee Harris received in the first half of the season, he wasn’t the only running back in the AFC North to endure a slower-than-expected start.

Until he stepped onto the field two weeks ago against Carolina, Joe Mixon of the Cincinnati Bengals wasn’t exactly piling up yardage, either.

On the heels of setting career highs with 1,205 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2021, Mixon was underperforming, his inconsistency serving as a microcosm of the Bengals, who have hovered around .500 after reaching the Super Bowl last season.

Entering the game against the Panthers, Mixon had rushed for 432 yards, scored two touchdowns and averaged 3.3 yards per carry in eight games. Then, Mixon awakened with a performance against Carolina that most certainly caught the attention of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will be tasked with stopping him Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.

All Mixon did was rush for 153 yards on 22 carries and score four touchdowns. He caught a pass for another score and totaled 211 scrimmage yards in a 42-21 victory.

Goodbye, slump.

“He’s definitely a well-respected guy,” outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said. “We have to get after him and set the tone. He’s a hard runner. He’s very unique in what he does. We have to get after him and set the tone up front.”

The Steelers (3-6) did that a week ago against the New Orleans Saints and do-everything running back Alvin Kamara. They limited Kamara to 26 yards on the ground and 29 overall for the Saints, who averaged less than 2 yards a carry.

It was the Steelers’ best performance at stopping the run since 2017, when they held Kansas City to 28 yards.

Now, the task is to do it again, but this time against Mixon and the Bengals (5-4), who had an extra week to rest and prepare for the Steelers because of their bye.

“For us, we go into every game with the idea that we have to stop the run first,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “I know a lot of people are like, ‘What are you talking about? It’s a passing league.’ But that’s how we go into the game. We feel no different this week. We felt no different in Week 1. We thought we had to do a really good job on Joe Mixon to have a chance to win the game.”

In the season opener in Cincinnati, Mixon rushed for a game-high 82 yards, but it took him 27 attempts to get there. And it turned out to be his highest rushing total until he faced the Panthers two weeks ago.

“Nothing is going to change,” Austin said. “Our goal is we’ve got to stop Joe Mixon because if Joe Mixon runs on us, that doesn’t leave us much of a chance. Because then you’re talking about the avenues they have available between the run and pass. We’ve got to make sure we take care of the run game.”

Thanks to his big game against the Panthers, Mixon is back on track for a fourth 1,000-yard season in five years. The only time he missed the mark was in 2020, when he played in only six games because of foot injury.

“He’s looking to really punish the secondary,” defensive tackle Cameron Heyward said. “He’s not shying away from contact. He’s got good balance. You really have to wrap up well with him.”

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Mixon’s performance against Carolina — and what awaits the Steelers — is that he did it without Ja’Marr Chase drawing attention from the defense. Chase, the dynamic second-year receiver, missed his second consecutive game because of a hip injury, and he won’t dress against the Steelers, either.

Coach Mike Tomlin, though, wasn’t surprised because it merely shifted the balance of the Bengals offense from one gifted player to another.

“I would imagine that he’s gaining real traction, particularly in recent weeks as they’ve been without Chase,” Tomlin said. “It’s just kind of common sense. You’re minus one significant guy, you redistribute the responsibility. The tape has that feel. Joe always has been a challenge. He’s tough. He’s got vision. He finishes off runs, he plays with violence in the secondary.

“We’ve just got to be open to that challenge.”

The Steelers are better equipped to face the challenge than perhaps at any time this season, even against the Saints. If free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick returns after missing the game last weekend because of an appendectomy, the Steelers will have all 11 defensive starters healthy for the first time since the opener.

Playing without inside linebacker Myles Jack against New Orleans, the Steelers still displayed the type of run defense that was wishful thinking in 2021. The Steelers were the NFL’s worst-ranked team at stopping the gun, allowing 146 yards per game. They have reduced that total to 108 yards this season, which is good enough to rank sixth in the league.

“We did the things that good defenses do,” Austin said. “We were hitting. We weren’t sticking on blocks, we got off blocks, we made plays we were supposed to make. I think the guys really ran hard to the ball. They finished. I don’t think there were a lot of missed tackles on tape when you look at it.

“Those are the things that contribute to a really good run defense.”

And the things the Steelers will need to do in order to contain Mixon.

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