The Bengals head to Miami on Sunday with plenty to sort through on both sides of the ball, and the Dolphins may not be the winless pushover their record suggests. Miami has opened the season without a victory, but it pushed Minnesota in Week 3, even with the offense sputtering badly. Malik Willis threw for just 85 yards in that game, though Minnesota also happens to be one of the league’s best defenses.
That’s the backdrop for a game Cincinnati should take seriously. Miami has leaned on a wave of young players after loading up on picks in the draft, and several of those rookies are already carrying real responsibility. New coach Jeff Hafley is still chasing his first win, but the Bengals cannot be the team that hands it to him.
One of the most interesting trench battles will be Kadyn Proctor against Dexter Lawrence. Lawrence is never really a normal one-on-one assignment, and that won’t change here, but Proctor’s size makes this matchup worth watching.
The rookie offensive guard out of Alabama is listed at 6’7” and 366 pounds, and he has allowed only two pressures over the last two games combined. Aaron Brewer will be the center helping him, while second-year right guard Jonah Savaiinaea will also have to hold up against Lawrence.
That’s easier said than done. Lawrence is controlling games every week, not always in the box score, but by collapsing pockets, forcing double and triple teams, and drawing more holding calls because of how overpowering he has been.
On the outside, Chris Bell gets a chance to test DJ Turner. Bell, a rookie receiver from Louisville, has 5 catches for 92 yards so far and is still working back from a torn ACL in December of 2025.
He also had a 67-yard touchdown against Minnesota wiped out after stepping out of bounds before Malik Willis got him the ball. Turner has had a shaky start for Cincinnati, allowing a 61.1% completion rate through four games after giving up just 46.8% during the 2025 season.
He has also been flagged twice already, after finishing last year with only three penalties. The Bengals do not want to let a player with Bell’s big-play potential get rolling early.
Miami’s ground game brings another stress test. Ollie Gordon just had his best NFL outing, rushing for 100 yards on only 9 carries against Minnesota.
That 11.1 yards per carry jumps off the page. Cincinnati’s Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter also put together what was probably their best combined game of the season at linebacker against Jacksonville, and the key was simple: they did not miss a tackle.
They’ll need that same discipline again if they’re going to keep Gordon in check. At 6’2” and 225 pounds, he has the kind of size and power that can wear on a defense.
If the Bengals can slow him down, they can force Miami to live through the air.
Then there’s Joe Burrow versus a Dolphins linebacker group that has been busy making plays. Burrow threw for 428 yards against Jacksonville, but the turnovers were back too, including an interception to a linebacker he simply did not see in the second half.
Miami will try to make him pay again with Jordyn Brooks and Jacob Rodriguez. Brooks recently signed a three-year, $51 million extension and has been one of the league’s better linebackers for the last few seasons.
Rodriguez, a second-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, arrived from Texas Tech after earning first-team All-American honors last season and has wasted no time settling in. He leads the league in tackles and piled up 18 against Minnesota.
That’s a lot for Cincinnati to manage in one game, and each of these matchups could swing the outcome.
In Other News...
Bengals Get A Familiar Ref Crew For A Game That Could Turn Testy
Brad Rogers will be a familiar face for the Bengals when his crew handles their next game, adding another layer of intrigue to a matchup that already has the feel of one that could get chippy. Rogers is in his 10th season as an NFL referee and his eighth as a head referee, and Cincinnati has seen him plenty before, including his first game as a referee in 2019 and a meeting in Week 14 last season.
For the Bengals, the bigger issue is how this crew tends to operate. Rogers has built a reputation for letting more play go than some of his peers, which can shape the rhythm of a game as emotions rise and both sides push the line. He has not had a postseason assignment in the last two seasons, and his most recent playoff work came in an AFC Wild Card game in the 2023 season, leaving this crew with something to prove in a game that could demand tight control. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals May Be Getting A Timely Boost In Their Banged Up WR Room
The Bengals banged-up receiver room got a little encouraging news this week, as Colbie Young moved from a limited session on Wednesday to a full practice on Thursday. It was the latest sign that he is trending toward a return soon, and he even got work catching passes from Joe Burrow as he continued to progress.
Young said the injury looked worse at first than it ended up being after X-rays, a relief for a group that has needed bodies and options. He also said he tried to go back in against the Steelers before wide receivers coach Troy Walters kept him out, a small detail that underscored how close he may already be to rejoining the mix. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Trade Deadline Cornerback Debate Has One Much Cleaner Fit
With the trade deadline creeping closer, the Bengals search for cornerback help has narrowed to a couple of familiar kinds of options: players who can stabilize the back end without forcing Cincinnati to overspend on a rental. Zyon McCollum and Brandon Stephens both fit the broader need for depth, but the comparison quickly turns into a question of style and reliability, not just availability.
Stephens stands out for the reasons the Bengals usually care about most in this spot. His coverage metrics have been stronger, and he has been far less prone to missing tackles, which gives him a cleaner path to helping a defense that needs sturdiness on the perimeter. The catch, of course, is whether the Jets would even entertain moving him, because a sensible fit on paper still has to become a real deal before Cincinnati can do anything with it. [Read more 🡒]