MIAMI GARDENS — The winless Miami Dolphins hosted the Cincinnati Bengals in their second home game Sunday, and their last game before their bye week. It didn’t go well as the Dolphins lost, 31-24, in a game that was an uglier loss than the score indicates.

Quarterback Malik Willis had his worst game of the season as Miami appeared to take another step backward. The run game posted its best numbers of the season but the pass rush had another game in which it didn’t produce any sacks.

The Dolphins (0-5) have their bye next week before traveling to New York in two weeks to face the Jets.

Here’s what we learned Sunday:

It was record heat Sunday

Sunday was the hottest October home game in franchise history, at Hard Rock Stadium or the Orange Bowl.

The temperature at kickoff was officially 90 degrees. However, if you had an iPhone it showed a temperature of 91 degrees with a “feels like” temperature of 94 degrees. An on-field thermometer on the TV broadcast showed a third quarter temperature of 104 degrees.

The Kansas City game two weeks ago, which was the Dolphins’ home opener and the only September home game, was 86 degrees at kickoff. The Bengals game was notably hotter and more humid even though the weather didn’t appear to affect the Bengals very much. — Chris Perkins

Offense produces second TD, scores most points of season

When quarterback Malik Willis hit wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. on a 3-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter it marked the first time this season Miami has scored three touchdowns in a game and recorded their season high in points at 24. The Dolphins previously had two games of 13 points — a 35-13 loss at San Francisco and a 27-13 loss at Las Vegas — and two games of 10 points including a 15-10 loss at Minnesota and a 24-10 loss to Kansas City.

Miami entered Sunday’s game as the league’s worst scoring offense at 11.5 points per game.

Willis struggles for second consecutive week

Willis (15 of 27, 137 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, one lost fumble) wasn’t good Sunday. And his season numbers are slumping further. His season total is seven turnovers (four interceptions, three lost fumbles vs. two touchdowns produced, one rushing and one passing).

Willis, who didn’t have a good start to the game, threw two interceptions in the first half. The first one was a tipped ball by a Bengals defensive lineman. The second interception, by safety Jordan Battle, came as Willis rolled right and threw across his body. Willis followed those with an ill-advised deep pass late in the second quarter that was almost picked off by a diving Bengals defensive back.

Willis had a nice 11-yard scramble early in the third quarter that displayed good decision-making in tucking the ball and running and then sliding. But Willis, rolling right, forced a pass in the end zone that was incomplete. On third and goal Willis threw incomplete to tight end Greg Dulcich.

Willis had a 39-yard scramble early in the fourth quarter and ended with 74 yards rushing on eight carries. But it wasn’t good enough in many ways.

Special teams woes continue

Special teams have been an issue for the Dolphins and those issues were extended Sunday.

Things started out badly for both teams. The Dolphins allowed an 81-yard kickoff return. Then, kickoff returner Jaylen Wright, who has had some good returns, muffed the kickoff but ended up with a 31-yard return.

After that, Cincinnati defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence had an unnecessary roughness/roughing the long snapper penalty on a Miami 30-yard field goal, which resulted in the Dolphins extending the drive and tying the game at 7-7 on Gordon’s 3-yard run.

There were penalties by each team on the ensuing kickoff. The Dolphins’ kickoff landed short of the landing zone while the Bengals had an unnecessary roughness.

Punt returner Malik Washington fielded a 67-yard punt at the Dolphins’ 4-yard line in the third quarter but returned it 28 yards.

The Dolphins were flagged for holding on a kickoff return late in the third quarter. And just to finish the game the way it started, Kansas City kickoff returner Dohnte Meyers stepped out of bounds in the fourth quarter after fielding a kickoff at the Bengals’ 4-yard line and Dolphins kicker Riley Patterson missed an extra point in the final minute.

Opposing TEs success

Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki had a 4-yard touchdown reception on the game’s first possession, extending the streak of tight ends having success against the Dolphins. Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez was the closest defender on the Gesicki touchdown. Tight ends have feasted on Miami this season.  Las Vegas’ Michael Mayer had six receptions (for 32 yards), which tied the game-high for most receptions. San Francisco’s George Kittle (four receptions, 80 yards, one touchdown), Kansas City’s Travis Kelce (two receptions, 59 yards, one touchdown) and Minnesota’s T.J. Hockenson (13 receptions, 119 yards) all had success previously. Gesicki ended with one reception for four yards while fellow tight end Tanner Hudson had three receptions for 14 yards and a touchdown.

Brooks out, returns in third but injuries pile up

All Pro linebacker Jordyn Brooks (eight tackles) sustained a foot injury in the second quarter and Jackson Woodard, who didn’t practice Wednesday and Thursday due to an ankle injury, was his replacement. Brooks returned in the third quarter. Brooks entered the game playing 241 snaps, 94.6% of Miami’s defensive plays.

Injuries are starting to pile up for the Dolphins. Cornerback JuJu Brents (concussion/stinger), safety Michael Taaffe (chest), right guard Jonah Savaiinaea (ankle), running back Ollie Gordon II and tight end Will Kacmarek all made visits to the blue medical tent on the sideline during the game. All returned except Savaiinaea, the only offensive linemen without a penalty through five games. Brents, it should be noted, entered the blue injury tent on the sideline twice.

Empty seats apparent amid a Bengals Hard Rock Stadium takeover

It’s tough to define the threshold when a visiting team has a “takeover” of Hard Rock Stadium but Sunday was close as there were maybe 35% Bengals fans in attendance. Anecdotally, Kansas City had a high percentage of fans at Hard Rock Stadium two weeks ago, perhaps 40%. Granted, the red jerseys worn by Chiefs fans stand out greatly just as the orange and black jerseys. But both visiting teams had big turnouts.

By the way, Sunday’s game had lots of empty seats. Keep that in mind for future games, especially if the Dolphins continue to struggle.

 Run game has best day but is abandoned at crucial time

The run game, which totaled 119 yards against Kansas City and 121 yards against Minnesota, and had a previous season-high of 31 carries against the Chiefs, keep the upswing going Sunday with 34 carries for 217 yards, both season bests. Running back Ollie Gordon II, who rushed for a career-best 100 yards last week, had 88 yards on 18 carries with one touchdown.

There were signs of promise in the run game. In the third quarter they had runs of 11 yards by Willis, 26 yards by wide receiver Chris Bell on an end around, and seven yards by Gordon. After an incomplete pass by Willis, Gordon had a 13-yard gain to the 1-yard line. Gordon was nailed for a two-yard loss on the next play and then the Dolphins passed on second and third downs, resulting in a sack and an incompletion, before kicking a 29-yard field goal.

There’s room to question whether the Dolphins should have gone back to the run game on that possession.

Jacob Rodriguez pass defense gets tested

Rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, who has been a tackling machine, was the closest defender on Cincinnati’s first two receiving touchdowns. The first was a 4-yard pass to tight end Mike Gesicki and the second was a 6-yard pass to running back Samaje Perrine under tight coverage. Rodriguez entered the game No. 2 in the league in tackles with 46. He had a team-best 11 tackles Sunday.

Are teams overlooking the Dolphins?

Cincinnati looked a bit ragged and unprepared in the first quarter Sunday. The Bengals had a dropped pass, a pass thrown behind an open receiver and two unnecessary roughness penalties. Cincinnati, which entered the game having lost its previous two games, got its act together somewhat but still didn’t look sharp. There’s achance team such as Kanas City and Cincinnati, which both made uncharacteristic errors against Miami, didn’t take the Dolphins seriously in practice during the week, which might become an advantage as the season progresses.

Joe Burrow looks really at home at Hard Rock Stadium

As if Dolphins fans needed any more reminders how damaging the 5-4 finish of the 2019 season was to the 2020 draft, Bengals quarterback (and No. 1 pick in that draft) Joe Burrow now has played two games at Hard Rock Stadium (both in the past year), and has been near perfect, piling up a passer rating of 136.7 passer rating on 48 completions in 64 passes for 499 yards, eight touchdown passes and no interceptions. — Steve Svekis

Ollie Gordon’s encore after his Minnesota breakout

Gordon had never run for even 50 yards in his 20 career games headed in to his 100-yard breakout in Minnesota last Sunday. Gordon showed it may not have been a fluke, smashing past his pre-Minnesota career high again, with 88 yards on 18 carries and another touchdown. On the Dolphins’ first possession, he churned out 31 yards on six carries and finished with a touchdown. So, cautious optimism.

Dolphins are getting roasted by St. Thomas Aquinas grads

In the past two games, alumni of the Fort Lauderdale high school football powerhouse Dallas Turner (Vikings) and Jordan Battle (Bengals) have combined for two sacks, two interceptions and a forced fumble. The Dolphins’ next opponent, the Jets, has Aquinas alum and tight end Mason Taylor.

That was a ball-security quagmire in the second quarter

In a span of 5:09, from 10:32 left in the first half to 5:23 remaining, there were two interceptions and three fumbles.

How rare was the Dolphins’ four-sack day in Minnesota?

The quartet of quarterback takedowns, indeed, were the first sacks of the season for the Dolphins, but such a pass-rush outburst was been infrequent in recent years. It was only the sixth Miami game in the past 42 (after the tepid shutout against the Bengals) with at least four sacks.

Chris Johnson has had a huge rally after some lowlight early moments

The rookie first-round-pick cornerback was seen getting manipulated and beat in some high leverage moments in the season’s first two games, particularly by running backs Ashton Jeanty and Christian McCaffrey, but he has been nails since then. The rating service Pro Football Focus had Johnson graded at a soft 47.6 in the opener in Las Vegas and then a 43.5 in Santa Clara against McCaffrey and his 49ers. But, things have jumped upward since then, with a 69.3 in the home opener against the Chiefs and then a sparkling 75.1 in Minnesota. Against the Bengals, his punchout forced a fumble deep in Dolphins territory.

On deck: New York Jets, MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, Oct. 25, 1 p.m.

There perhaps has been no more streaky of a divisional series in the NFL than the Dolphins against the Jets. When Don Shula took over the Dolphins in 1970, Joe Namath and the Jets had never lost to the aqua and orange, going 8-0. However, Shula started 14-2 against Gang Green (against the Jets and Bills from 1970-77, the Dolphins went 30-2). Just when it looked like Miami would dominate the series, the Dolphins went winless (0-7-1) from 1978-81, and the Jets retook the series lead, 17-14-1. Then, a Dolphins 7-0 run from 1982-84. For most of Dan Marino’s career, the series evened out, with it going 14-12 Dolphins. Then, the next 11 years belonged to the Jets, with a 17-4 domination from 1998 through the 2008 season opener giving New York a 46-39-1 series advantage. A back-and-forth persisted until 2017 (10-8 Miami), but then, despite the Dolphins in a period of upheaval, with three coaches, Miami took control again. Since mid-October of 2017, the Dolphins have beaten the Jets 14 of 17 times and lead the series
63-57-1.