The Dolphins are back at Hard Rock Stadium Sunday for a showdown with the Cincinnati Bengals. The visitors enter with a 2-2 mark after dropping the last two games against the Steelers and Jaguars, as both teams look to get into the win column ahead of a Week 6 bye.
That bye week arrives at just the right time for both sides. Though Cincinnati star wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have, in some form, participated in practice this week, both players exited last Sunday's game with injuries and were listed as questionable ahead of their matchup against Miami.
Meanwhile, Dolphins rookie wide receiver Caleb Douglas will miss his third-straight game. Miami will need the rest of the offense to step up against a Bengals defense that was revamped this offseason and is bearing the fruits of those veteran acquisitions.
The biggest move by the Bengals this offseason was the trade for former Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. Cincinnati sent the 10th pick in the draft to New York, and the big man is already paying dividends. He has 3.0 sacks and four tackles for loss, leading the charge for a defense that ranks second in run stuff rate (32.3 percent, run plays that result in no gain or a tackle for loss).
"They're just a relentless front," quarterback Malik Willis said. "They work hard. They added Dexter Lawrence, a big-time guy. We played him last year in Green Bay. We just got to… I trust our guys and we just got to continue to work hard to attack the plan that we have and do what we can to execute it when the time comes."
The leader of the Bengals offense is three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow, who is off to one of the best starts of his career with seven touchdown passes and a 99.5 passer rating through the first four games. He makes an explosive offense go with his accuracy, toughness and pre-snap acumen.
"He's one of the top, top guys in the league," Head Coach Jeff Hafley said. "He can make all the throws. He's smart. He sees it all. He can get in and out of the right calls constantly at the line of scrimmage. I have so much respect for how tough he is and how he sits in and takes shots and holds on and makes throws when guys are coming right at him and keeps his eyes down the field."
Burrow will contend against a revitalized Dolphins pass rush that notched a season-high 4.0 sacks Sunday at Minnesota, a game in which the Vikings never found the end zone. The Cincinnati offense operates heavily over the middle of the field, where rookie inside linebacker Jacob Rodriguez is coming off a record-breaking game. His 18 tackles last week were the most by a Dolphins rookie in franchise history, but it'll be his and All-Pro linebacker Jordyn Brooks's coverage skills that will get challenged repeatedly.
Rodriguez and Brooks combined for 31 total tackles in Week 4, but the Dolphins are looking for a solution for the tight end spot, a position that has produced 333 yards in four games this season against Miami.
"When you go into each game, who do you want to stop," Hafley said. "Is there a wide receiver you want to stop? Is there a run game you want to stop? Is there a quarterback you have to stop? Can the quarterback run the ball? So, you got to kind of pick and choose when you go into a game… So I don't look at it like "oh man, this week the tight end had this many catches for this many yards." It's, what do we need to do to keep the points down to help us win the game? And that's how I've always coached. I look at it big picture of what we need to do to win and keep points off the board."
Make sure to check out the Injury Report and the team's official social media accounts 90 minutes before kickoff to see who is active for the game.
Watch the game live on Sunday, October 11 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS, listen on the Dolphins Radio Network and view the Game Center for the latest coverage.
