Up until now, each game we've touched on has included a pair of teams that are still fighting for the postseason. We want those contests where there's something on the line and the players have motivation to bust off some big plays.

The Cincinnati Bengals' do-si-do with the Oakland Raiders ain't it, chief. But it's not one we can overlook completely.

Both defenses here are simply treacherous, ranking 23rd or worse overall. As a result, this game -- even with nothing on the line -- has the fourth-highest total on the main slate. That's partially an indictment of the slate as a whole, but it does at least amp up the interest in using pieces tied to this one.

On the Raiders' side of things, Derek Carr hasn't been good outside of Oakland, failing to reach 16 FanDuel points in any road game this year. That lowers the appeal in their offense. But it's a bit of a different story for Joe Mixon.

The Bengals may be out of it, but that didn't change the way they used Mixon last week. In fact, Mixon set a new season high by netting 26 carries. He added six targets, as well, turning him back into a workhorse back after a few weeks of middling usage.

It also doesn't hurt that Mixon has been doing quite a bit with the volume he has gotten recently. Week 14's output was his third straight game with at least 80 rushing yards, a mark he has now hit in 7 of 11 games this year. He's ranked 14th in Success Rate out of 40 running backs with at least 100 carries, so this doesn't seem to be anything fluky.

That efficiency isn't likely to leave Mixon this week, either. The Raiders' defense be trash.

They enter Week 15 ranked 30th against the rush, according to numberFire's metrics. They've already allowed six running backs to go for at least 100 rushing yards against them, including some players on wretched offenses. Nick Chubb went for 105 on just 3 carries while Todd Haley was still calling plays for the Cleveland Browns. David Johnson had 137 rushing yards against them, and that was even with left tackle D.J. Humphries out due to injury. This should help alleviate some concerns around the Bengals' offense under Jeff Driskel.

To further help matters, the Bengals are about to get some reinforcements back up front.

Left tackle Cordy Glenn has missed the past three games due to injury. Getting him back would be a big boost to the offense.

Glenn going down prior to Week 12 was a bummer because it happened pretty quickly after the team got rookie center Billy Price back from injury. Price and Glenn have played just three full games together this year, nullifying the big investments the Bengals made to the offensive line in the offseason. If both are healthy on Sunday, we might finally get to see what the team envisioned up front.

Of course, that revamped line will come with both A.J. Green and Andy Dalton out, and that means we still have to keep expectations in check for the entire offense. That makes Mixon a bit tougher to stomach in cash games, especially with how close his $7,800 salary is to the tier including Elliott and Saquon Barkley. But he has some juice for tournaments.

If the Bengals get Mixon the same workload he had last week, he has shown that he can capitalize for fantasy and pump out the rushing yardage. He'll net some targets to add to his ceiling, the offensive line is trending up, and the matchup is delectable. Mixon's not a bad option at all, even with the limitations around him.