Five Biggest Storylines for the Dolphins-Bengals Matchup ... And How They Played Out
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The Miami Dolphins lost for the first time this season when they dropped a 27-15 decision against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on Thursday night.
Before the game, we broke down the five biggest storylines for this Miami-Cincinnati matchup, and now it's time to revisit them to see how they played out:
1. The Tua-Burrow Rematch
BEFORE THE GAME: When the Dolphins faced the Bengals at Hard Rock Stadium in 2020, we missed out on a battle between Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow because Burrow's rookie season had come to an end a few weeks earlier because of a knee injury. This battle also appeared in jeopardy for a little bit because of Tua's back injury, but it's on. It's going to be difficult for those two to top when they did in November 2019 when Tua passed for 418 yards and four touchdowns and Burrow for 393 yards and three touchdowns in LSU's 46-41 victory, but it's going to be fun regardless. And the QB performances could go a long way toward determining who wins the game.
DURING THE GAME: We don't really need to revisit this, right? The scary injury that knocked Tua out of the game was disappointing on so many levels, including (even though it was way farther down the line) missing out on a full Tua-Burrow battle. The Dolphins were trailing 7-6 when Tua left the game, though it should have been 10-7 Dolphins if not for Chase Edmonds' drop of a perfectly thrown Tua pass in the end zone at the end of Miami's first drive.
2. The Hill-Apple Showdown
BEFORE THE GAME: Tyreek Hill set the stage for a personal grudge match with Bengals cornerback Eli Apple with his postgame comment, "I owe you, boy" following the victory against Buffalo. There's clearly some bad blood between the two stemming from the 2021 AFC Championship Game and Apple tweeting about Hill being a baby after he stopped him at the 1-yard line when the Chiefs tried to score a touchdown on the final play of the half to increase their 21-10 lead instead of taking the field goal — a play that proved crucial in Cincinnati's 27-24 overtime victory. Tua chimed in on the issue this week, saying that if Apple ends up in one-on-one coverage, he's throwing to Hill. Then again, would Tua NOT throw to Hill in one-on-one coverage regardless of the cornerback? To be blunt, we'd expect Apple to have help over the top whenever he's lined up against Hill, but this battle should be fun regardless.
DURING THE GAME: Let's not kid ourselves, the Bengals are smart and it's not like they stuck Apple on Hill in one-on-one coverage. NextGen Stats came up with Apple giving up only 7 yards on two targets when he was the nearest defender against Hill, but that stat can be a tad misleading and Hill did finish with 10 catches for 160 yards. So it's not like the Bengals shut him down — or even slowed him down.
3. Waddle and Chase
BEFORE THE GAME: These were the first two wide receivers selected in the 2021 NFL draft, and both already are stars. Chase was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year last season with one of the most astounding performances ever by a first-year wide receiver. And Waddle, for all the attention on Hill, has been fantastic so far this year with at least one game-changing play in every game. As we wrote this week, the Dolphins' decision to trade down from the third overall position to pick up an extra first-round pick and still land Waddle, while at the same time giving the Bengals the chance to take Chase fifth overall, has worked out great for each team. And now there are bragging rights at stake in their first head-to-head game in the NFL.
DURING THE GAME: For the first time this season, Waddle wasn't a major factor, though his two catches did go for 20 and 19 yards. Chase also was very quiet until the last minute of the third quarter. To that point, he had only one catch for 8 yards, but then caught a 23-yard option pass from fellow wide receiver Tyler Boyd and of course had the borderline-game-clinching 36-yard reception from Joe Burrow shortly before the two-minute warning.
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4. Terron Takes on Trey
BEFORE THE GAME: While Dolphins linebacker Melvin Ingram was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month on Thursday morning, it was Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson who earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance in their victory against the New York Jets when he had 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. Hendrickson lines up on the right side of the defensive line, which puts him across three-time Pro Bowl tackle Terron Armstead and makes for a great matchup. While listed as questionable, Armstead is expected to once again be in the lineup despite his toe injury and his ability to keep Hendrickson in check greatly would help Tagavailoa get the ball to his receivers.
DURING THE GAME: Armstead did a really good job of making Hendrickson a non-factor for most of the game as the defensive end finished with nothing on his stat sheet except for two quarterback hits. But Hendrickson did get the better of Armstead on a key play in the game, the third-and-2 right before the Dolphins settled for a field goal and a 15-14 lead late in the third quarter. On that play, Hendrickson pushed Armstead back into Teddy Bridgewater and forced him to get out of the pocket, which led to an incompletion with Bridgewater on the move. Still, given what Hendrickson did against the Jets, this was a strong performance overall for Armstead against a really good defensive player.
5. Can the Blitz Beat a Struggling O-line?
BEFORE THE GAME: It's no great revelation to say that what the Dolphins do best on defense is forcing turnovers and creating havoc with the Cover 0 blitz, which creates interesting possibilities against a team whose offensive line has been questioned. While they gave up only two sacks against the Jets on Sunday, the Bengals watched Burrow get taken down for 13 sacks in the first two games against Pittsburgh and Dallas — an average of 6.5 per game if our math skills are as advanced as we think. The Dolphins, meanwhile, got a touchdown in Week 1 when Brandon Jones nailed Mac Jones from behind and Ingram scooped up the fumble and ran into the end zone and then got a takeaway inside the Buffalo 10-yard line when Jevon Holland tagged Josh Allen from the back side and Ingram again was there on the spot to get the fumble. That's the kind of play that can turn around a game and make the difference in winning or losing. Of course, blitzing won't come without risks because Cincinnati has the best wide receiver trio in the NFL with Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. So maybe DC Josh Boyer will decide to dial it back a bit. Or maybe he won't.
DURING THE GAME: The Dolphins pass rush had a very quiet game and simply wasn't able to affect Joe Burrow very much. Jaelan Phillips had the team's only sack of the game and he had two of the team's three quarterback hits, with Christian Wilkins getting the other one. The Dolphins didn't run very many all-out blitzes and didn't get home on those few occasions when they did. And there was no game-chanting play like we saw against New England and Buffalo.
