Miami Dolphins vs Cincinnati Bengals Preview & Prediction

 Week 4 of the NFL season is upon us! And to start things off, we got a wonderful Thursday Night Football matchup as the undefeated Miami Dolphins (3-0) visit the defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals (1-2).

Miami has been one of the most surprising teams in the league thus far, as they currently sit atop the AFC East after winning a thriller against the Bills last week. Meanwhile, the Bengals beat the Jets to get their first win of the season on Sunday, as their extremely talented offence finally showed signs of life. 

Will the Dolphins get another victory and move to 4-0 for the first time since 1995? Or will the Bengals notch their second straight victory and get to .500 on the year? Let's dive in.

When the Dolphins have the ball:

The Dolphins offence has been absolutely electric to start off the season, as they currently rank 8th in points per game (27.7), and 4th in passing yards per game (291.3). New head coach Mike McDaniel has done a excellent job of setting up easy completions for Tua Tagovalioa, whether it'd be RPOs, screen passes, etc. And having two speedsters in Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill (who rank 2nd and 3rd in receiving yards respectively) on your team makes it that much tougher to defend. However, Tua will be limited coming into this matchup with the Bengals as he is dealing with a back injury. He will play through it, but it won't be easy going up against a Bengals defence that ranks 8th in yards allowed per game and has played relatively well so far this season. 

Cincy has a good pass rush with Trey Hendrickson (14 sacks last year, 2.5 against the Jets last week) leading the way and a solid secondary led by Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. Awuzie and Eli Apple will undoubtedly have their hands full with Hill and Waddle, so it's paramount for the Bengals front seven to get home early and often against a improved Miami offensive line.

When the Bengals have the ball:

As previously mentioned, the Bengals offence played well for the first time all season last week, as they put up 27 points and 330 yards on the Jets. After turning the ball over 5 times in their Week 1 loss to the Steelers, Cincy has turned the ball over just once over their last two games, which is a very positive development for this team. Joe Mixon remains banged up, so their running game might not be too effective. But with Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd among others, they should be able to move the ball. The biggest key will be their offensive line, which has given up a whopping 13 sacks over the first three weeks.

I'm very interested to see how exactly Miami's defence is going to approach this game. They are one of the most blitz (sending 5 or more defensive players to get after the quarterback) happy defences in the league (2nd highest blitz percentage in the league since 2021). But with Cincinnati's offensive line playing so poorly, will the Dolphins adjust and play more two-high coverage? Or will they stick to their aggressive identity? Zero blitzing Joe Burrow when he has Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on the outside may not be the smartest idea. What Dolphins defensive coordinator Josh Boyer decides to do will undoubtedly play a huge role in tonight's game.

Prediction:

This should be a very fun game between two very good teams in the AFC. This will be the first battle between 2020 draftees Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow at the NFL level, after they both notched one victory against each other in college.

The Dolphins may be unbeaten to this point, but with Tua banged up and the team playing on a short week, I think Miami comes out a bit slow in this one, which will allow Burrow and the Bengals to get an early lead and I think they'll hang on to get the victory at home.

Dolphins 20 Bengals 30