Dec. 21, 2025, 4:22 p.m. ET

A close first half at Hard Rock Stadium quickly unraveled into a blowout loss for the Miami Dolphins with the Cincinnati Bengals cruising to a 45-21 win.

The Bengals and Dolphins traded leads before halftime with Cincinnati leading 17-14 at the end of the second quarter. But Miami turned the ball over three times in the third quarter and also turned the ball over on downs, paving the way for the Bengals to score four touchdowns in the first 17 minutes of the second half.

With the loss, the Dolphins are now 6-9 on the year and still No. 11 in the 2026 NFL draft order. If the Atlanta Falcons managed to beat the Arizona Cardinals later Sunday, Miami would climb to No. 10.

Here are three instant takeaways to the Dolphins’ loss to the Bengals:

Quinn Ewers had a decent, but not great starting debut

Like Tua Tagovailoa’s 113.2 passer rating last week that earned him a demotion to third-string, the 66.0 rating that Ewers finished with Sunday wasn’t quite indicative of his play for most of the day.

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The seventh-round rookie did pretty well to avoid pressure and wasn’t sacked, didn’t put the ball in jeopardy too much, and kept the offense moving early with a few good completions downfield. At halftime, Ewers was 10-of-12 passing for 109 yards with 94 of those yards coming on throws to veterans Jaylen Waddle (54) and Darren Waller (40).

Things came unglued for the Dolphins in the second half when a Greg Dulcich fumble, two Ewers interceptions, and a turnover on downs all in the third quarter put Miami in a big hole. The picks thrown by Ewers weren’t the worst decisions and gave Theo Wease and Jaylen Waddle opportunities to make plays on the ball. Good coverage from Bengals defensive backs erased those chances.

The pass rush has to be an offseason priority for the Dolphins

All eyes will be on the Dolphins’ moves at the quarterback position during the 2026 offseason, but the pass rush has emerged as a significant need for the team.

With Jaelan Phillips off the roster and millions in savings on the table by parting with Bradley Chubb, the Dolphins’ edge rushing group will likely be left with Chop Robinson and not much else in 2026. Robinson has followed an impressive rookie year with an underwhelming sophomore campaign and Miami hasn’t generated enough interior pressure to make up for the edge rushing deficiency.

On Sunday, Zach Sieler got an early sack of Joe Burrow and first-round picks Robinson and Kenneth Grant combined for another. But for most of the day, the Bengals quarterback was afforded the luxury to coolly pick apart the Dolphins. Burrow finished with 309 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 146.5 passer rating — the second best of his career. Joe Flacco took over for Cincinnati with more than 11 minutes left.

The Dolphins need receiving help too

Jaylen Waddle finished the loss to the Bengals with five receptions for 72 yards. The next two leading receivers for Miami were tight ends Greg Dulcich and Darren Waller with 45 and 40 yards, respectively.

The No. 2 and 3 receivers for the Dolphins on the depth chart Sunday were Malik Washington and Cedrick Wilson Jr., who caught one pass each. Rookie Theo Wease caught two passes on Miami’s final drive.

With Tyreek Hill almost certainly done in Miami, the Dolphins desperately need to find more talent at the receiver position, no matter who is throwing them the ball.