Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon gashed the Indianapolis Colts for 159 rushing yards and a touchdown on 30 carries in Week 1 but was limited to nine rushing attempts for 25 scoreless yards in the team's 19-13 "Sunday Night Football" win against the Chicago Bears in Week 2.
Mixon didn't speak with reporters following the contest, according to ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime, but it wasn't necessarily due to his lack of success during the victory. The one-time Pro Bowler took to social media after the game to blast the NFL and one particular official who he believes missed a blatant hip-drop penalty call.
The play in question came with 11:57 left in the third quarter when Mixon caught a pass from Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud and was tackled by Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards. Per Bien-Aime's report, Edwards seemed to take Mixon down with the now-banned swivel hip-drop tackle.
Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans also addressed the play following the win, saying the team would look at the film to see if it was a hip-drop tackle.
The 28-year-old ball-carrier gingerly limped to the Texans sideline before going into the blue medical tent and heading to the locker room. Mixon reentered the contest with 50 seconds left in the third quarter but took just seven snaps after his return and recorded just one rushing attempt for one yard.
One of Mixon's former Cincinnati Bengals teammates was also involved in a perceived missed hip-drop tackle penalty on Sunday when stud wideout Ja'Marr Chase was taken down against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Chase was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct in the fourth quarter of his game after using "abusive language" toward an official. The LSU product's argument with the referee came after he was tackled by Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie.
A 15-yard penalty would've been assessed in either Mixon or Chase's situation if a hip-drop violation had been called.
The NFL approved a rule proposal in March to ban the swivel hip-drop tackle, which, according to a rugby tackling style, has caused mainly lower leg injuries in recent years.
Bien-Aime's report noted that according to NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller, there were 230 plays last season where the controversial tackle was used to bring down a ball-carrier, resulting in 15 players missing time.
