The Five Biggest Storylines for the Dolphins-Bengals Matchup

The Miami Dolphins will look to make it seven wins in eight games when they face the Cincinnati Bengals at Hard Rock Stadium, and here are the biggest subplots for the game

The Miami Dolphins will close the third quarter of their regular season when they face the Cincinnati Bengals at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

The Dolphins are 7-4 and have won six of their past seven games, including a 20-3 victory against the New York Jets in Week 12; the Bengals are 2-8-1 and coming off a 19-17 loss against the New York Giants.

Here are the five biggest storylines for the game:

1. Tua Time Again?

While there have been no declarations coming from the Dolphins or head coach Brian Flores, all indications are that Tua Tagovailoa will be in the starting lineup against the Bengals after missing the Jets game last week because of a thumb injury he sustained in practice. It will be Tagovailoa's first game action since he was pulled from the 20-13 loss against the Denver Broncos two Sundays ago.

2. Say It Ain't So, Joe

Fans hoping to see a Tua-Burrow QB matchup will be disappointed from the Cincinnati standpoint because of the absence of first overall pick Joe Burrow, who is now two weeks removed from the nasty injury he sustained against the Washington Football Team. Instead, the Bengals quarterback will be Brandon Allen, who will be making his fifth career start but still somehow surpassed 2019 fourth-round pick Ryan Finley, who the Bengals traded up to get just 18 months ago. 

3. Running for Myles

The Dolphins running game will have a much different look than a week ago with the return of Myles Gaskin off injured reserve. Gaskin, though, will be one of only two running backs in uniform against the Bengals because Matt Breida was placed on Reserve/COVID-19 on Friday and Salvon Ahmed and DeAndre Washington both will miss the game because of injuries.

4. Can Higgins "Tee" Off?

For the third consecutive week, the Dolphins will face a talented rookie wide receiver, this time former Clemson star Tee Higgins. He follows Denver rookie Jerry Jeudy and Jets rookie Denzel Mims. Higgins is part of a Bengals wide receiver corps that currently has to stand as the strength of the team.

5. Taking Care of Business

For the second consecutive game, the Dolphins will enter a game with a clearly superior team (as reflected by the point spread). In fact, the Dolphins will be double-digit favorites for only the ninth time since 2000 and maybe one of the biggest challenges in this game will be to not play down to the level of the opposition. Cincinnati was a dangerous team to face with Burrow at quarterback, but it's obviously not the same situation with Allen at quarterback. The Dolphins were able to win against the Jets last Sunday without necessarily playing a great game, and the same scenario is easy to envision in this one.