Bengals @ Dolphins
This turned out to be a surprisingly chippy game with several post-whistle pushing matches and five ejections, including Tyler Boyd and DeVante Parker. Prior to his ejection, Boyd took a short pass 72 yards for a touchdown to give the Bengals an early lead. For most of the first half, the Dolphins had almost no offensive success, scoring just two field goals with one of them coming as the half expired. Fortunately for Miami, the Bengals did not have much more success and left points on the board after a penalty pushed them to the edge of field goal range and led to a missed field goal. In the second half, the Dolphins had a bit more success driving the ball and their defense started getting more pressure on Brandon Allen, eventually knocking him out of the game with a chest injury. The Dolphins scored 13 unanswered points in the second half, which led to them winning 19-7.
If this is worth an ejection of both Tyler Boyd and Xavien Howard, football is in trouble #CINvsMIA pic.twitter.com/lKbLNl0NT0
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) December 6, 2020
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterback
Brandon Allen: 11/19, 153 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 5 sacks | 2 carries, 3 yards
Ryan Finley: 6/7, 40 yards, 1 INT, 1 sack
Brandon Allen left this game in the fourth quarter with an injury after being sacked on three-out-of-five plays. He was not all that good before the injury, with 72 of his 153 yards and his only touchdown coming on a short pass that Tyler Boyd turned into a huge play. Allen’s interception was an awful throw where he essentially just threw it up for grabs after the Dolphins were able to pressure him.
Ryan Finley stepped in for Allen and threw an interception of his own:
.@FOETYY PICK!!
📺 @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/rLMyz6ltFL
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) December 6, 2020
Neither quarterback looked good, but in their defense, the Cincinnati offensive line looked completely overmatched and the running game provided no help. Watching the Bengals without Joe Burrow has put into perspective how impressive his rookie season was, but with him injured this has become a fantasy wasteland.
Running Backs
Giovani Bernard: 12 carries, 30 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, -1 yard
Samaje Perine: 3 carries, 7 yards
Cincinnati’s offensive line struggles also held back their running game, as Giovani Bernard could not get anything going despite handling almost all of the backfield work. He started the game strong with a 9-yard rush, but that ended up being the high-point of his day. Even with the offense struggling the Bengals opted not to check down to Bernard more often, and as long as that trend continues he will be very difficult to trust for fantasy.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Tee Higgins: 7 targets, 5 receptions, 56 yards
Tyler Boyd: 4 targets, 1 reception, 72 yards, 1 TD | 0/1
A.J. Green: 1 target
Drew Sample: 7 targets, 7 receptions, 49 yards
Tyler Boyd had an eventful day. He scored the longest touchdown of his career by taking a short pass to the sideline and effectively utilizing the only block he needed to take the ball to the house.
The longest play of @boutdat_23's career 💥 #ProBowlVote
📺: #CINvsMIA on CBS pic.twitter.com/5LoQMO2Vh3
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 6, 2020
Boyd also attempted a pass, throwing just short of Brandon Allen on a trick play, and then got into a shoving match with cornerback Xavien Howard which led to both players being ejected. Tee Higgins was a big part of the offense and had a few plays called for him early, but he was not able to break a big play or find the end zone. He did make a nice catch down the sideline, but he was pushed out of bounds before completing the play so it did not count. Drew Sample was the go-to option on check-downs and caught all seven of his targets.
Miami Dolphins
Quarterback
Tua Tagovailoa: 26/39, 296 yards, 1 TD | 3 carries, 3 yards
Tua Tagovailoa struggled in the first half but opened up the second half with an 80-yard touchdown drive that he capped with a nice throw to Mike Gesicki.
To: @mikegesicki
From: @Tua📺 @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/WwGqJOObn6
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) December 6, 2020
Overall, Tua was just alright. He made enough plays to get the win but he was not overly impressive. He looked the most comfortable when he had either a quick read or a designed roll-out to his left, on other plays he looked very much like a rookie. He was fortunate to not throw an interception on several throws where a Bengals defender got their hand on the ball. The Bengals really did not pressure Tua much, and their secondary is not very good, so it is a little disappointing to see the Dolphins really struggle to convert third downs. It will be interesting to see if the Dolphins can stick to the plan of not playing Ryan Fitzpatrick if the team continues to win and Tua continues to look a little bit out of his depth.
Running Backs
Myles Gaskin: 21 carries, 90 yards, 1 fumble | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 51 yards
Patrick Laird: 3 carries, 6 yards | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards
Myles Gaskin returned from injury to dominate the backfield touches. He handled all of the red zone work, including one sequence where he got three straight carries inside the five-yard line, but was unable to score. On his longest run of the day he fumbled, but aside from that, he was an effective runner for most of the game. He made a nice catch down the field for a big gain, and also took a screen pass for a first down. He looked like maybe he was still working himself back into game condition after missing a few weeks, but it seems like as long as he’s healthy he should have a fantastic role here going forward. Patrick Laird got some run late in the first half as the Dolphins ran a two-minute drill to get into field goal range and he caught two passes, but otherwise he was not really involved in the gameplan.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
Mike Gesicki: 11 targets, 9 receptions, 88 yards, 1 TD
DeVante Parker: 8 targets, 4 receptions, 35 yards
Jakeem Grant: 6 targets, 2 receptions, 42 yards
Lynn Bowden: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 41 yards | 1 carry, 11 yards
DeVante Parker made a few nice catches prior to getting ejected from the game, including a diving catch where he came back to the ball and just barely prevented it from hitting the ground. Mike Gesicki had a nice game, catching the aforementioned touchdown in addition to this really impressive one-handed catch:
GESICKI DOES IT AGAIN. #FinsUp
📺: #CINvsMIA on CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/nO8DOddpx2 pic.twitter.com/Lf2cm2mkeB— NFL (@NFL) December 6, 2020
It is nice to see him and Tua developing some chemistry and hopefully, they can build on this going forward. Jakeem Grant could have had a huge day if he had not dropped what was sure to be a long touchdown reception. Tua hit him in stride down the field and Grant simply let it bounce off his hands. Lynn Bowden got some extended run today, lining up as both a receiver and a running back. He broke out a nice spin move and generally looked pretty elusive with the ball in his hands.
— Dan Adams (@dadams0323 on Twitter)