Scooter & Hum: Day 269, Quasi-Quarantine: Dolphins-Bengals Game 12 Review

In a game that was even less competitive than the score indicated, the Dolphins dispatched a dirty and unfocused Cincinnati Bengals team. The win was Miami's seventh in eight games, keeping the squad locked into the playoff conversation. On the down side, there were a couple of key injuries in the contest, and the 'Fins' offensive struggles in the red zone were on full display.

A week after routing Adam Gase's New York Jets team without any stress, Miami embarrassed former Gase bro Zac Taylor, who looks to have lost any semblance of control over his team. Effort and discipline were lacking for Cincy, turning the contest into an embarrassing display of cheap shots and unwarranted trash-talking.

Offense

In a bit of a breakthrough performance, rookie Tua Tagovailoa connected on 26 of 39 passes, narrowly missing his first 300-yard game with a career-high 296 yards. He threw one touchdown, but was overall a little loose in his red-zone throws and decisions, playing a sizeable role in the 'Fins' poor effort in scoring territory. Miami went up-tempo to start the second half, and this seemed to spark his play, allowing him to go 13 of 167 for 167 yards and a score in the third quarter alone. Tua did throw 3-4 dangerous passes that could have been turnovers, but he did a better job with his eye discipline and scrambling to extend plays.
It was good to see Myles Gaskin back toting the rock, and he had one of his better games, racking up 141 yards on 22 touches. His 90 rushing yards was boosted by a 26-yard late-game romp, but that burst ended in a fumble. He also added a 35-yard catch and run and overall looked strong returning from injury.
Depleted at running back, the Dolphins could only rely on Patrick Laird to back up Gaskin, and Laird managed 22 yards on five touches, the highlight being a nifty 11-yard catch and run that saw him juke a linebacker.
I certainly didn't foresee Lynn Bowden, Jr., leading the way at the receiving position, but he reeled in all four targets for 41 yards. He took a couple of significant hits and looked dinged up at one point, but he also ran once for 11 yards and showed signs of being a dynamic offensive weapon.
It was a largely forgettable game for Jakeem Grant, who dropped a 50-yard deep ball from Tua and absorbed two personal-foul shots on punt returns. He did managed 42 yards on two receptions, but he was targeted six times and could have changed the game on a couple of occasions.
DeVante Parker was mostly quiet before he was ejected, sparring a lot with Cincy DBs. He was targeted eight times, catching half of those for 35 yards. Mack Hollins joined Parker on the ejected list, catching a single pass for seven yards.
Mike Gesicki was the star of the show, pulling in nine receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets. He sparked the team with a couple of miraculous grabs and generally gave the Bengals fits in all segments of the field.
Elsewhere in the tight end room, Durham Smythe contributed two catches for 16 yards, while Adam Shaheen was held without a reception, though Tua did not see him wide open on an RPO for an easy score.
The offensive line had a nice bounce-back game after a struggle against the Jets, holding Cincinnati without a sack and opening up some respectable holes for Gaskin. Rookie Robert Hunt had a false start, but held up well along with classmates Austin Jackson and Solomon Kindley. The front did lose Ereck Flowers, and his injury could throw the line even further into flux.

Defense

The Dolphins simply swarmed on defense, racking up six sacks and 11 quarterback hits while reeling in two interceptions. Miami got plus plays on all levels of the unit and generally set the tone for the entire game.
Shaq Lawson led the way at the defensive end spot, collecting four tackles, two sacks, 2.5 stops for losses, a batted pass, and two quarterback hits. Bookend Emmanuel Ogbah had a staggering five quarterback hits to go with two tackles, but he was robbed of a strip-sack that led to a touchdown on a bizarre replay overturn. Andrew Van Ginkel was quiet, contributing a single stop in a reserve role.
Zach Sieler continued his steady play, posting three solo tackles, a sack, and a quarterback hit, while linemate Christian Wilkins had a pair of solo stops and one tackle for loss despite having a fumble recovery score overturned. Rookie Raekwon Davis had two tackles, including one for a loss, though he did jump off-sides at one point.
Kyle Van Noy was the no-brainer AFC Defensive Player of the Week, recording eight solo tackles, three sacks, five stops for losses, one batted pass that led to a pick, and three quarterback hits. He was, frankly, everywhere, turning in his finest performance as a Dolphin.
The rest of the linebacking corps picked up the scraps, with Calvin Munson converting strong special teams play into a good fill-in job when Elandon Roberts (one tackle) got hurt. Munson had four tackles and half a stop for a loss, though he was whistled for an iffy late hit. Jerome Baker was quiet again with three tackles.
Another week, another Xavien Howard interception. "X" notched his eighth pick of the season to go with four solo tackles. On the other side, corner Byron Jones had two solo tackles and was involved in the play that led to Cincinnati's only touchdown.
Nickel Nik Needham (yes, that's a lot of alliteration) was not as involved in run support, registering a single tackle, but he was active in coverage, breaking up two passes and reeling in an interception to close the contest.
Safety Brandon Jones had five tackles, but lost leverage on the Bengals's long score, creating a learning opportunity for the rookie. Eric Rowe contributed four stops, while Bobby McCain added three tackles and a pass breakup.

Special Teams

Jason Sanders continued his All-Pro season with four successful field goal tries. The bad news? Three of those were 25 yards or less and he only had a single extra point, meaning the Dolphins were a disaster in the red zone.
Matt Haack averaged 45 yards on his four punts, placing two inside the 20-yard line. Unfortunately, his touchdown run on a fake field goal was nullified on a reporting technicality.
As mentioned, Grant was cheap-shotted twice on punt returns and muffed both, though penalties corrected that. Overall, he had four punt returns for a total of just eight yards.
Miami didn't have a single kickoff return.
I'm singling out Noah Igbinoghene in this spot for his activity in the kicking game. The youngster has had a forgettable rookie year, but he had a nice hit on one kickoff return, and he also pounced on both punt return fumbles, pulling off a respectable return on one. Unfortunately, he did have a hold that nullified a solid Grant punt return, but overall he was noticeable, a good sign for the first rounder.

Momentum Plays

After giving up back-to-back third-down conversions, "X" climbed the ladder for an impressive first-quarter pick.
Both of the Joneses (Brandon and Byron) took poor angles on a simple short pass to Tyler Boyd, somehow allowing Boyd to turn the corner and go 72 yards for the game's first score.
With the game getting chippy, Tua made a poor RPO read that saw Shaheen uncovered for a touchdown. However, Miami ran a nifty fake field goal for a Haack touchdown, but rookie offensive linemen Jackson and Hunt were whistled for an illegal information after they did not report. The score was taken off the board, and the Dolphins settled for a short Sanders field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.
After nearly throwing a pick, Tua was drilled and the ball came loose and was returned for a Cincy TD, but it was easily overturned on review as a clear incompletion.
On a third-down play, Boyd and "X" got into on the sideline, with late penalty flags called. For some reason, both players were ejected, despite neither actually throwing a punch. Cincinnati's personal foul was enforced, leading to a missed 53-yard field goal on 4th & 25.
Responding with a two-minute drill, Tua hit underneath passes to Bowden, G-Sick, and Laird (twice), then calmly spiked the ball to set up a 48-yarder from Sanders to make it 7-6 at the halftime gun.
Tua caught fire to start the second half, hitting head-turning balls to Gesicki, Parker, and Gaskin to set up a jump ball that G-Sick won for a touchdown and a 13-7 lead.
The Dolphins firmly seized control of the contest with another strong drive, highlighted by Gesicki's insane one-handed grab. However, the offense stalled again inside the 10, and a shorty field goal from Sanders made it 16-7.
After another defensive stop, Tua converted a 4th & 1 with a sneak and Gaskin had a strong run down to the 2-yard line. But a couple of dangerous throws by Tua fell incomplete, leading to yet another short Sanders field goal and a 19-7 advantage.
Yet another Cincy three-and-out led to a second cheap shot on Grant on the punt return, leading to a sideline fracas that resulted in three Bengals personal fouls and one on Miami, though two Dolphins players were ejected -- Parker and Hollins -- for coming to Grant's defense. Coach Brian Flores ran across the field to scream at the Cincinnati sidelines, firing up the 'Fins even more.
A Miami three-and-out led to a Haack punt that pinned the Bengals at their own 8-yard line. Ogbah raced around end for a strip-sack that led to a Wilkins recovery and touchdown. Somehow and inexplicably, the play was overturned on replay, but the Dolphins got three sacks in five plays to end the Cincinnati possession.
Gaskin burst into the open field for a 26-yard run, but he fumbled at the end of it, giving the Bengals life. Cincy strung together a few first downs behind former Wolfpacker Ryan Finley, but Van Noy capped his incredible day by tipping a pass that Needham intercepted to effectively end the game.