Bengals edge Dolphins
Tagovailoa injured as Burrow leads Cincinnati to home victory
CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow tossed a late 2-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Hurst to seal a 27-15 win for the Cincinnati Bengals over Miami Thursday night in a game marred by the horrific sight of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa being taken off on a stretcher.
Vonn Bell’s interception of Miami backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater — the safety’s second pick of the night — with three minutes left in the game set up the Bengals’ final drive.
Evan McPherson kicked two fourth-quarter field goals — including a 57-yarder.
Burrow was 20 for 31 for 287 yards and two touchdowns as the Bengals won their second game in five days after dropping the first of the season. Tee Higgins caught seven passes for 124 yards and a TD.
Bridgewater threw an incomplete pass on Miami’s final drive to turn the ball over on downs with 57 seconds left.
Tagovailoa was 8 for 14 for 110 yards and an interception before his injury. Bridgewater finished 14 for 23 for 193 yards, a touchdown and an interception in relief.
Tagovailoa sustained neck and head injuries after being slammed to the ground and was stretchered from the field.
The Dolphins said Tagovailoa was conscious, had movement in all his extremities and was taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center for further evaluation. Tagovailoa was released from the medical center and was to travel back to Miami with the team,according to Amazon.
Tagovailoa was chased down and sacked by 6-foot-3, 340-pound Josh Tupou with about six minutes left in the first half. He was spun around and thrown to the turf. While on the ground, his hands froze in front of his face. He remained down for more than seven minutes before being loaded on a backboard, stabilized and strapped to a stretcher after his facemask was removed.
The 24-year-old Tagovailoa was suffering from a sore back and had been listed as questionable for most of the week ahead of the game.
Tagovailoa briefly left Sunday’s 21-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills after appearing to be disoriented by what the team originally said was a head injury after taking a hard hit from Bills linebacker Matt Milano late in the first half. He missed just three snaps and returned after halftime.