The Bengals seemed to have the game and the spread under control in Miami, then nearly watched it slip away anyway. In the end, Cincinnati left South Beach with a 31-24 win over the winless Dolphins, and bettors on the wrong side of the number got the kind of gut punch that sticks.
Cincinnati entered Week 5 as a seven-point favorite at some books and 6.5-point favorites at others, and for most of the afternoon, covering never looked like much of a threat. Joe Burrow had the Bengals rolling early, throwing three touchdown passes to stake Cincinnati to a 14-point halftime edge. That cushion grew to 18 in the fourth quarter when Ja’Marr Chase hauled in a 45-yard touchdown.
Miami kept hanging around, though. Malik Willis hit Kevin Coleman Jr. for a touchdown and then connected with Greg Dulcich on the two-point try to cut the Bengals’ lead to 10 with seven minutes left. After a Bengals punt, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen forced and recovered a fumble from Willis deep in Dolphins territory at the Miami 10-yard line, a sequence that made it look like Cincinnati had snuffed out the comeback.
But the Bengals only managed a 26-yard field goal after that, pushing the lead back to 13. Willis answered by driving the Dolphins 61 yards and scoring on a one-yard run to make it a one-score game again with less than a minute remaining.
Malik Willis adds another Dolphins TD @CINvsMIA on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/PnNhnnRLl9
- NFL (@NFL) October 11, 2026
Because a two-point conversion would not have changed anything, Miami sent Riley Patterson out for the extra point, trying to make it a six-point game before attempting the onside kick. Patterson then doinked the kick off the left upright, and that miss ended the real drama for bettors.
Bengals -6.5 bettors saved by a missed extra point pic.twitter.com/WKOiD0Sqmy
- Jordan Dajani (@JordanDajani) October 11, 2026
The Dolphins couldn’t recover the onside kick, and Cincinnati finished it off with two kneel-downs. The final score: Bengals 31, Dolphins 24. That meant Bengals -6.5 tickets cashed in wild fashion, while Dolphins +7 backers at least walked away with a push.
The win moved the Bengals to 3-2, their best five-game start since 2021, the season they reached the Super Bowl. Miami dropped to 0-5 and became the fifth team since 1950 to fail to hold a lead through its first five games.
In Other News...
Dolphins Keep Losing While One Frustrating Problem Wont Go Away
The Dolphins start to the season has only deepened the sense that this is a team still searching for traction in the early stages of its rebuild. At 0-5, Miami is dealing with the usual pain of a losing record, but the bigger issue is how often the self-inflicted mistakes keep showing up and spoiling any chance to build momentum.
Against the Bengals, the turnover problem once again became part of the conversation, the kind of recurring setback that makes every missed opportunity feel heavier. For a roster trying to establish any kind of identity, the question is no longer just about bouncing back from another loss, but about finding a way to stop the same frustrating issues from defining the season. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Could Be Headed For A Brutal QB Decision In 2027
Miamis ugly 0-5 start has already pushed the quarterback conversation into the long view, and that long view now appears to include the 2027 NFL Draft class. With Malik Willis still leaving plenty of doubt as a possible answer at the position, the Dolphins are at least expected to keep one eye on the next wave of passers, where Texas star Arch Manning sits near the center of the debate.
Manning was once viewed as the kind of prospect teams could anchor a rebuild around, but his college inconsistency has complicated that picture and made his pro outlook harder to pin down. For Miami, the appeal is obvious enough to understand: if the current quarterback search keeps going sideways, the franchise may end up weighing upside over certainty and betting that the right young talent can still be worth the risk. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Face A Risky Austin Jackson Decision After 0-5 Start
With the Dolphins staring at an 0-5 start, Austin Jackson has become one of the more interesting names to watch as the roster clock keeps ticking toward the trade deadline. Miami has until Nov. 10 to decide whether to move the veteran tackle, who is in the final year of his contract, and the timing matters because the teams bye week could shape how aggressively it weighs short-term continuity against a longer-term asset decision.
The problem is the depth chart behind Jackson does not make this an easy call. Caedan Wallace would be the most likely option to step in, but he has only two career starts, and the other tackle choices are even less proven, which raises the risk of weakening an already fragile offense if Miami chooses to deal Jackson. In a season that has already gone off the rails, the Dolphins are left trying to balance whatever return they can get against the possibility that one more hole up front makes the rest of the year even harder to survive. [Read more 🡒]