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Dolphins 2020 Opponent Breakdown: Week 13 - Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals should be a much-improved team when they come to Hard Rock Stadium in December for a potential Joe Burrow-Tua Tagovailoa matchup
Alain Poupart|
Dolphins 2020 Opponent Breakdown: Week 13 - Cincinnati Bengals
Dolphins 2020 Opponent Breakdown: Week 13 - Cincinnati Bengals

As the Miami Dolphins continue to prepare for the 2020 regular season as best they can during this most unusual offseason, we will be dissecting their upcoming opponents.

The opponent for Week 13 will be the Cincinnati Bengals, who will come to Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 6 for what could be a battle between the first two quarterbacks selected in the 2020 NFL draft — Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa.

CINCINNATI BENGALS

2019 Record: 2-14, fourth in AFC North (no playoffs)

Last Dolphins-Bengals Meeting: 2019 at Miami — Dolphins 38, Bengals 35 (OT)

This Week 16 game at Hard Rock Stadium had considerable significance because the first overall pick in the 2020 draft was on the line, and it turned out to be a wildly entertaining game. The Dolphins prevailed in overtime, clinching the No. 1 pick for Cincinnati, but not before the Bengals made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter. Miami led 35-12 after rookie Myles Gaskin scored his first NFL touchdown on a 2-yard run, but the Bengals answered with three touchdowns in the final 6:15. The last touchdown came on a 25-yard pass from Andy Dalton to tight end Tyler Eifert after the Bengals had recovered the onside kick that followed Tyler Boyd's touchdown with 33 seconds left. Jason Sanders' game-winning 37-yard field goal with four seconds left in overtime came three plays after Ryan Fitzpatrick connected with Isaiah Ford on a 28-yard pass to the Cincinnati 14-yard line. Fitzpatrick finished the game with 419 passing yards, DeVante Parker had 111 receiving yards and a touchdown, and tight end Mike Gesicki had the first two-touchdown game of his NFL career.

Season in Review:

Zac Taylor's first year as head coach pretty much was a disaster from start to finish. Among the setbacks, top 2019 draft pick Jonah Williams missed the whole year with a torn labrum sustained in minicamp and seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green also didn't play because of an ankle injury. The Bengals lost their first 11 games, though the opener was a 21-20 decision at Seattle and there also were four- and six-point losses against playoff participants Buffalo and Baltimore, respectively. Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton was benched at some point in favor of rookie fourth-round pick Ryan Finley, but Cincinnati reversed course after Finley struggled. Cincinnati's two victories came against the Jets in Week 9 and against the Browns in Week 17. Defensive tackle Geno Atkins, the son of former Dolphins safety Gene Atkins, was the only Bengals player selected to the Pro Bowl.

Key Veteran Additions: NT D.J. Reader, CB Trae Waynes, S Vonn Bell

Reader, who played with Dolphins defensive tackle Christian Wilkins at Clemson in 2015, joined the Bengals after starting 52 games for the Houston Texans the past four seasons. He should help the Bengals' run defense. Waynes signed a huge free agent contract after spending five seasons with the Vikings. The 11th pick in the 2015 draft did not have a great 2019 season, as evidenced by the 107.9 opponent passer rating when he was targeted. Bell is a former Ohio State standout who spent his first four NFL seasons with the New Orleans Saints. He had a big year in 2019 when in addition to his one interception he had five fumble recoveries.

Key Departures: QB Andy Dalton, TE Tyler Eifert, DT Andrew Billings

Like Ryan Tannehill with the Dolphins, it simply was time for the Bengals and Dalton to go their separate ways. Dalton also was a serviceable quarterback, but he never was able to elevate what was at times a really good team. Eifert battled injuries for most his time in Cincinnati after arriving as a first-round pick, but he also always a good red-zone threat when he was in the lineup. Billings started 30 games for the Bengals the past two seasons.

Notable 2020 Draft Picks: QB Joe Burrow, WR Tee Higgins, LB Logan Wilson

What can we say about Burrow that hasn't already been said? Simply put, his 2019 season just might have been the greatest ever for a college quarterback and we'll just go with this one stat: In the seven games LSU played against top 10 opponents, Burrow had 27 touchdown passes against two interceptions. While he might not be quite as good a prospect as A.J. Green when he came out of Georgia, there are some similarities there, starting with Higgins' size (6-4, 215). Higgins was a big-time playmaker at Clemson, catching 25 touchdown passes over the past two seasons. Logan Wilson was the Bengals' first defensive pick in the 2020 NFL draft and many analysts considered him a steal at the top of the third round. Wilson averaged more than 100 tackles over his four seasons at Wyoming and came up with 10 interceptions.

Prognosis:

The Bengals are starting over in 2020, but there's a lot of optimism for a quick turnaround because of the arrival of Joe Burrow. The Bengals certainly have given him a lot of options on offense because Higgins joined a group that already included Green, two-time 1,000-yard receiver Tyler Boyd and two-time 1,100-yard rusher Joe Mixon. The return of Williams on the offensive line also should help. The secondary was remade in the offseason with the arrivals of Waynes and Bell, and the Bengals will be hoping they can continue to get solid performances up front from Atkins and defensive end Carlos Dunlap. It's probably too much to expect the Bengals to go from 2-14 to a playoff spot with a rookie quarterback, but they clearly should be much better in their second year under Taylor, whose first NFL job as an assistant was with the Dolphins back in 2012.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website. In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

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