{"id":421833,"date":"2026-10-08T02:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T02:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/421833\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T02:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T02:36:15","slug":"dolphins-vs-bengals-things-to-watch-for-in-miamis-week-5-game-vs-cincinnati","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/421833\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins vs. Bengals: Things to watch for in Miami’s Week 5 game vs. Cincinnati"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 The winless Miami Dolphins (0-4) host the Cincinnati Bengals (2-2) on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in their last game before their bye week. Although Miami began the week as a seven-point underdog, this could be its breakthrough game considering Cincinnati\u2019s injury situation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins have shown recent improvement<\/a> in areas such as rushing offense and pass rush, and the Bengals, led by former Dolphins coach Zac Taylor and superstar quarterback Joe Burrow. are riding back-to-back losses.<\/p>\n

This is Miami\u2019s only home game in the month of October. The Dolphins<\/a> visit the New York Jets on Oct. 25, the week after the bye so a victory on Sunday could set them up for back-to-back wins.<\/p>\n

But before we get too far ahead, let\u2019s look at five things to watch for in Sunday\u2019s game against Cincinnati:<\/p>\n

Bengals WR health<\/p>\n

Cincinnati wide receivers Ja\u2019Marr Chase (concussion) and Tee Higgins (groin) are question marks for the game and their participation could be a deciding factor in the outcome. Chase (21 receptions, 212 yards, three touchdowns) is in the discussion for best wide receiver in the NFL and Higgins (25 receptions, 401 yards, one touchdown) is in the discussion for best No. 2 wide out in the NFL.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins\u2019 secondary of cornerbacks JuJu Brents, Chris Johnson, Jason Marshall Jr., and safeties Michael Taaffe and Dante Trader Jr. will be challenged if either Chase or Higgins plays.<\/p>\n

Dolphins playing clean game<\/p>\n

The Dolphins have been plagued by untimely penalties, especially after they cross the 50-yard line. They\u2019ve also had to deal with missed assignments, coverage busts and self-inflicted damage. These problems have slowed the entire operation and made it tougher for the Dolphins to get their first victory.<\/p>\n

For example, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle scored a touchdown on an apparent coverage bust. Quarterback Malik Willis<\/a> lost a fumble on a scramble. Punter Bradley Pinion dropped the ball before punting it and the result was a lost possession on downs at the Dolphins\u2019 28-yard line, which resulted in a 49ers touchdown two plays later.<\/p>\n

Special teams<\/p>\n

There have been too many miscues in this area. There\u2019s been issues on kickoff return, punt return, kickoffs, punts and field goal attempts. It\u2019s understood that the Dolphins are rebuilding and the bottom one-third of their roster is constantly churning, which causes issues with coaching and cohesion on special teams. However, running back\/kickoff returner Jaylen Wright can\u2019t muff kickoffs and wide receiver\/punt returner Malik Washington can\u2019t muff a punt deep in Dolphins territory. And you can\u2019t compound that mistake with an illegal block above the waist that starts the possession on your opponent\u2019s 10-yard line.<\/p>\n

When coaches use the term \u201chidden yardage,\u201d a phrase that describes lost yardage that\u2019s not necessarily reflected in statistics, look at special teams on things such as muffed returns.<\/p>\n

Dolphins taking a lead<\/p>\n

The Dolphins haven\u2019t had a lead all season. They\u2019ve only scored seven points in the first quarter and seven points in the fourth quarter. It\u2019s little wonder they\u2019re last in the league in points per game (11.5). Miami\u2019s opponents have scored 24 points in the first quarter, 30 points in the second quarter, 34 points in the third quarter and 13 points in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins haven\u2019t scored more than 13 points in a game, and they haven\u2019t registered more than one touchdown in a game.<\/p>\n

Pass protection<\/p>\n

This could be where the game is decided whether or not Chase and Higgins play. Cincinnati is tied for third in sacks (14.0). Coach Jeff Hafley thinks the Bengals might have the best defensive line that they\u2019ve faced. Tackles Dexter Lawrence (3.0 sacks), Jonathan Allen (2.0 sacks) and Kris Jenkins (2.0 sacks) are flanked by defensive ends Boye Mafe (2.0 sacks) and Myles Murphy (1.5 sacks).<\/p>\n

The Dolphins have allowed 11.0 sacks, tied for third-most in the league. Center Aaron Brewer is the best in not allowing a sack, a streak that covers 267 snaps. But that\u2019s only the 47th-longest streak in the NFL. Protecting Willis, who has acknowledged some of the sacks have been his fault due to holding the ball too long, will be at a premium.<\/p>\n

Dolphins Deep Dive: Can Miami beat an injured Bengals team? | VIDEO<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 The winless Miami Dolphins (0-4) host the Cincinnati Bengals (2-2) on Sunday at Hard Rock…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[13227,123,1763,125,124],"class_list":["post-421833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-miami","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}