Thursday Night Football this week is held between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Miami Dolphins at Paycor Stadium where the Bengals defeated the Dolphins 27-5. Joe Burrow and co improved to 2-2 while Miami suffered its first loss of the season.
During the showdown, both Cincinnati and Miami’s offenses struggled throughout the game because of timing issues and poor play calling. However, their defense was doing a great job of stepping up on the third down.
The Bengals started the game for the second week in a row after Miami won the coin toss and deferred. In the first quarter, Bengals running back Joe Mixon scored on a third-and-inches play from the 5-yard line.
Mixon suffered an ankle injury during the week and struggled to start the 2022 season. He didn’t do much on his first three carries, and the coaching staff has been hesitant to give him the ball in short-yardage situations in recent weeks.
On Thursday night, he got the start and made the most of it, thanks to an assist from the offensive line that helped push him the final 2-yards across the goal line. Mixon had a nice run, which helped the Bengals take a first-quarter lead for the second week in a row.
The Dolphins’ offense started off hot as well. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was hitting open receiver after open receiver, but the drive came to a halt when the Dolphins’ running back scored on third down. Cincinnati kept the lead.
Tagovailoa then threw a stunning pass right over Logan Wilson’s head for a long first down conversion. His next pass, however, was a deep ball that Tyreek Hill had to come back to, which Vonn Bell intercepted.
Tagovailoa suffers head injury
With 5:57 remaining in the second quarter, Tagovailoa was sacked by Bengals defensive tackle Joseph Ossai, forcing him to be escorted to the locker room.
Tagovailoa suffered a head injury when the back of his head hit the field. The crowd at Paycor Stadium fell silent as the Dolphins’ medical team assessed the quarterback’s condition.
He was confirmed out of the game less than 10 minutes after leaving the field, and he was brought into an ambulance to be examined further at a nearby hospital. During halftime, Miami announced that he was conscious and could move his extremities.
Bridgewater takes over
Teddy Bridgewater was brought in to fill Tagovailoa’s spot. Bridgewater completed a 64-yard pass to Hill, putting the Dolphins within 10 yards of the Bengals.
Bridgewater completed 14 of 23 passes for 191 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in over a half of work.
Then, Jason Sanders scored three points with his 20-yard field goal. The 20-yard field goal was enough to give the Dolphins a 15-14 lead with 2:43 remaining in the third quarter.
Bengals bring home victory
Miami couldn’t capitalize on a big run by Raheem Mostert to start their last-gasp drive with six minutes left, trailing 19-15. They drove all the way down to Cincy’s 26-yard line, but Bridgewater was intercepted by Bell, who had intercepted Tagovailoa earlier.
Bell returned it to near midfield, setting up the game’s final three minutes. The Bengals then sealed the 27-15 victory with a two-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to Hayden Hurst.
In Week 5, Cincinnati will face the Baltimore Ravens while Miami is up against the New York Jets.