South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Who has the edge?
Slowing down Bengals’ offense key to Dolphins recording first 4-1 start since 2003
The Miami Dolphins visit Cincinnati on Sunday (1 p.m., CBS) for their Week 5 matchup against the Bengals, hoping to rebound from a blowout loss to the New England Patriots. Both teams are 3-1 and atop their respective divisions.
When the Dolphins pass: The Dolphins are one of five NFL teams that average less than 200 passing yards after the first month of the season. Against the Patriots last week, Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed only 11 passes while Miami’s offense was largely unproductive thanks to early penalties, being behind schedule with several third-andlong situations, and no run game to provide balance. If the Dolphins hope to get back on track, coach Adam Gase should reach into his bag of offensive tricks to take advantage of Cincinnati’s defense, one of five teams to surrender more than 300 yards passing per game to opposing teams this season. Edge: Dolphins
When the Bengals pass: Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton may be in the middle of the pack in passing yards, but Cincinnati’s offense is fourth in the NFL, averaging 31.5 points per game. One of the major contributing factors in that statistic is Cincinnati’s work in the red zone, where the Bengals have scored touchdowns on 11 of 13 opportunities this season. Overall, Cincinnati has the longest streak in the NFL, scoring on 34 straight red-zone trips. Dalton has completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 1,197 yards, with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions this season. The Dolphins defense, leads the NFL with nine interceptions and is second in opposing passer rating (72.2), but has regressed to one of the bottom-six teams in the league, giving up 284.8 passing yards per game. Edge: Bengals
When the Dolphins run: Have you seen how poorly the Dolphins ran the ball the last two weeks? Third-year starter Kenyan Drake has only 3 yards rushing in each of his last two games, while 14-year veteran Frank Gore was able to get his first touchdown on the season in garbage time against the Patriots last week. With poorly-timed penalties and long thirddown situations, the Dolphins have been unable to get into a rhythm that allowed for rushing the football. The Raiders and Patriots each took away the run from the Dolphins in Week 3 and 4, respectively, and expect the Bengals defense to try to do the same on Sunday, despite Cincinnati ranking 21st in the NFL, surrendering 115.8 yards per game on the ground.
Edge: Bengals
When the Bengals run: Joe Mixon is expected to make his return from a knee scope he had in Week 2, and with backup and former St. Thomas Aquinas High standout Giovani Bernard out, the Dolphins could see a nice dose of former University of Miami standout Mark Walton on Sunday. The Bengals may have relied more on Andy Dalton without Mixon in the mix, but could run on the Dolphins defense, which is missing defensive ends Cameron Wake, William Hayes and Andre Branch, and allowed Sony Michel (112 yards) and James White to rush for 156 yards and two touchdowns last week. Edge: Bengals
Special teams: After kicking 8 of 12 punts inside the 20-yard line in Week 2 and 3 com- bined, Dolphins punter Matt Haack shanked two punts and was not able to get any of his seven punts against the Patriots inside the 20. Dolphins rookie field goal kicker Jason Sanders has not kicked a field goal since making two during the season opener, while Bengals kicker Randy Bullock has made only 1 of 2 field goals in the last two weeks. Bengals punter Kevin Huber has punted seven of his last 10 punts inside the 20-yard line, and was only needed to punt once last week against the Falcons. The Dolphins did have Jakeem Grant return a kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown in the season opener. But with how efficient Andy Dalton has been on offense, the Bengals’ special teams have not needed to rely heavily on their return game to produce points. Edge: Bengals
Intangibles: A Dolphins win would mark the team’s first 4-1 start since 2003. … A second consecutive Dolphins loss would mark the third time Miami lost consecutive games for coach Adam Gase with Ryan Tannehill as the starting quarterback since Week 4 and 5 of the 2016 season. … The Dolphins have won nine of 13 in Cincinnati, including seven of the last nine, but lost 22-7 during their last visit on a Thursday night game in Sept. 2016. … The Bengals rank last in third-down efficiency, allowing opponents to convert 57.4 percent (35 of 61). … The Dolphins third-down efficiency offensively is 31 percent, 27th in the NFL. … Seven-year veteran linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who began the season serving a four-game suspension, returns for the Bengals. … When both teams have scored at least 25 points since 2001, the Dolphins have the best winning percentage at .968 (30-1-0) while the Bengals are second at .957 (43-1-2). Edge: Dolphins
Prediction: Bengals 34, Dolphins 24