The Cincinnati Bengals continue their disappointing season with a visit to Miami on Sunday and will play yet again without quarterback Joe Burrow. The Bengals will also be without wide receiver Auden Tate who was placed on injured reserve this week with an injured shoulder. The Bengals experienced life without top draft pick Burrow last week when losing to the New York Giants and now face an opponent in the midst of a playoff race.
Miami improved its overall record to 7-4 last week after defeating the New York Jets 20-3. The Dolphins also played without their starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa but the big difference between the Bengals and Dolphins is the backup quarterback for the Dolphins Ryan Fitzpatrick is not a drop-off in talent and Miami’s offense can carry on as usual. Miami has one of the NFL’s best defenses going up against an anemic at best Cincinnati offense.
Bengals must find a way to score
Now that Cincinnati will play its final five games of the regular season without starting quarterback Joe Burrow, the Bengals must find a way to score. Cincinnati has averaged just 13 points per game in his last three games which all resulted in losses. Overall this season Cincinnati is scoring an average of just 20.9 points per game which is 26th in the NFL. The Bengals offense is rushing for an average of 96.3 yards per game and is averaging 235.2 yards per game passing. Last week, Brandon Allen started under center for Cincinnati and passed for 136 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The anemic running game for Cincinnati is led by Giovani Bernard with 223 yards, as Joe Mixon has not played since October 18 after being put on injured reserve. Tyler Boyd, who has seen time at quarterback for Cincinnati, is the leading receiver with 72 receptions for 725 yards.
Cincinnati's defense is allowing 253.7 yards per game passing and 136.7 yards for a game rushing. The Bengals are allowing an average of 26.0 points per game which is nearly six points more per game than the offense is scoring. Safety Vonn Bell is the leading tackler for Cincinnati with 85 and defensive end Carl Lawson is leading Cincinnati and quarterback sacks with 4.5.
Injury Report: Along with Joe Burrow being out injured, Cincinnati will be without running back Joe Mixon, cornerback Darius Phillips, wide receiver Auden Tate and wide receiver John Ross III. Questionable for Sunday's game against Miami are wide receiver Mike Thomas and guard Alex Redmond.
Tagovailoa Returns to Practice
Miami starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa returned to practice midweek and is expected to play after recovering from a thumb injury. Last week the Dolphins defeated the New York Jets 20-3 without Tagovailoa and Miami has one of the league’s best backup quarterbacks in Ryan Fitzpatrick. This season Miami is averaging just 95.3 yards rushing per game which is 30th in the NFL and 216.6 yards per game passing which is 25th. It goes without saying that Miami's success has been due to its defense and not its offense that is averaging just 25.8 points per game. Since taking over as the starting quarterback Tagovailoa has passed for 602 yards and six touchdowns. Myles Gaskin has 387 yards to lead the Dolphins rushing attack and DeVante Parker has caught 52 passes for 642 yards to lead all Miami receivers.
Defense is where it's at in Miami. Leading the charge for the Dolphins defense is linebacker Jerome Baker who has made a team-high 76 tackles. The Dolphins have 25 quarterback sacks through 11 games and are led in that department by linebacker Kyle Van Noy with three. Miami is allowing just 18.6 points per game which is second in the NFL to Pittsburgh. The Dolphins defense is allowing 237.3 yards per game passing and 129.9 yards per game rushing.
Injury Report: Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, running back Salvon Ahmed, linebacker Jerome Baker, running back Myles Gaskin, guard Solomon Kindley, and cornerback Jamal
Notable Trends
- Miami is 6-1 ATS in the last overall at home
- The Dolphins are 6-1 ATS in the last seven overall
- Cincinnati is 4-10 ATS in the last 14 versus Miami
