Thursday Night Football Breakdown: Cincinnati Bengals vs Miami Dolphins

Cincinnati is hoping to hand Miami their first loss of the season.

Author:
James Rapien
Publish date:
Sep 29, 2022 1:04 PM EDT

In this story:

CINCINNATI — The Bengals are looking to win their second-straight game on Thursday night when they host the Dolphins at Paycor Stadium.

Miami is the only unbeaten team remaining in the AFC and they're coming off of a last-second win over Buffalo. There are plenty of questions surrounding both teams in this game.

We caught up with Alain Poupart of All Dolphins and asked him to break things down from Miami's point of view.

Is Tua Tagovailoa living up to his draft status or is the Dolphins' success more about Mike McDaniel, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle?

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) and wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) take the field before the opening game of the season against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Sept. 11, 2022. — © Jim Rassol / USA TODAY NETWORK

It's not a great secret that Tagovailoa was a polarizing figure throughout the offseason with folks debating back and forth whether he was the answer at quarterback and, guess what, that's still going on after his statistically splendid start.

As usual, the answer probably falls somewhere in the middle. As a prospect, he always looked to me as someone who needed things around him to be right—and, yes, that applies to every QB, but to varying degrees. There's no question the Dolphins have set him up to succeed in every way, from the hiring of McDaniel and the massive show of public support throughout the offseason, to the addition to Hill, Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds to make up what now is one of the fastest offenses in the NFL. So yes, Tua is living up to his draft status, but I'm not sure that we're at the point yet whether it's a no-brainer that the Dolphins will sign him to a long-term contract next offseason.

How do you think the Dolphins will attack a Bengals defense that will be without nose tackle DJ Reader?

Aug 7, 2022; Cincinnati OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle D.J. Reader (98) walks on the field during training camp at Kettering Health Practice Fields. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports — Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

There was this thought that the Dolphins would be a run-heavy team because of McDaniel's background in San Francisco, but that didn't take into account the fact that the team's best players on offense—and pretty clearly—are Hill and Jaylen Waddle. It would be borderline malpractice not to use them to their full capacity. So we shouldn't be really all that surprised that it's the passing game that's carried the Miami offense so far and I see no reason for that to change. The absence of Reader isn't likely to affect what the Dolphins plan on doing very much, if at all.

How has Mike McDaniel coached situationally in his first three games?

Sep 25, 2022; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel enters the field prior to a game against the Buffalo Bills at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports — Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports

One of the first things we noticed about McDaniel is that he's very big on instilling confidence in his players, and that's translated into his coaching decisions because he's shown he's not afraid of going for it on fourth down. That started in Week 1 when he went for it from midfield in the first quarter, getting an offside from New England for an easy conversion. The only time we've seen McDaniel getting conservative was after the goal-line stand against Buffalo when he called for two running plays and a screen backed up near their end zone, though the Dolphins got away with it even after a three-and-out and the infamous "Butt Punt." But overall, McDaniel seems like he won't be afraid to take chances—even if it's not to a Brandon Staley-like level.

Outside of Terron Armstead, how's the rest of the Dolphins' offensive line?

Miami Dolphins guard Connor Williams (58) takes the field before the opening game of the season against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Sept. 11, 2022. Dolphins V Patriots Nfl Game 12 — © JIM RASSOL/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK

While Tagovailoa, Hill and Waddle deserve the bulk of the credit for the work of the passing game, let's not discount what the offensive line has done in terms of pass protection because that area of the game has been very, very good. There are no big names outside of Armstead on the O-line, but there are three former second-round picks currently starting (Liam Eichenberg, Robert Hunt and Greg Little) with 2020 first-round pick Austin Jackson currently on injured reserve. The Dolphins signed former Dallas starting guard Connor Williams in the offseason, moved him to center and he has been very good so far in 2022. The run blocking hasn't been great, but the pass protection has more than made up for it so far.

Do you think the Dolphins will blitz like they did last week against the Bills or will they sit back and play coverage?

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) fumbles after getting hit by Jevon Holland (8) of the Miami Dolphins during the first quarter of an NFL game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Sept. 25, 2022. — © Jim Rassol / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Dolphins defense is at its best when it's in attack mode and produces big plays with timely blitzing by their defensive backs. Whether it's Jevon Holland or Brandon Jones, I certainly would expect a fairly large dose of blitzing to make Joe Burrow as uncomfortable as possible, especially with the pass protection issues the Bengals have had so far this season.

The Dolphins are not a team that likes to sit back in coverage, in part because their pass rush hasn't been all that effective when there's no blitzing involved. Against the Bills, it should be noted that the Dolphins pulled back on the blitzing a bit in the second half, particularly on the fourth-quarter goal-line stand and it ended up paying dividends. Blitzing is what the Dolphins do best defensively.

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