- WHERE: Paycor Stadium (Cincinnati)
- WHEN: 8:15 p.m. ET | Prime Video, NFL+
The 3-0 Miami Dolphins are in prime time for the first time this season and are in sole possession of first place in the AFC East following their massive, thrilling victory over the Bills in Week 3. They’ve taken down all comers so far, beating Bill Belichick’s Patriots, John Harbaugh’s Ravens and Buffalo, one of this year’s Super Bowl favorites.
Thursday night’s game against the Super Bowl runner-up Bengals is the next stiff challenge. Cincinnati got back on track in Week 3 with a stronger defensive effort (four takeaways) in beating the Jets, running its record to 1-2 after suffering narrow losses the first two weeks of the season.
This game could pit former SEC combatants Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa, who faced off twice in college, with each QB winning on the other one’s home field. This game is in Burrow’s backyard at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, where the Bengals strangely have won only three of their past eight regular-season games. But Tagovailoa’s status remains up in the air after he suffered back and ankle injuries Sunday vs. Buffalo.
If not for the Dolphins, the Bengals might not have Burrow. In the 2019 meeting between the teams, the Bengals almost staged an epic comeback in Miami — down 23 midway through the fourth quarter — that nearly cost them a chance to draft Burrow before the “Tank for Tua” Dolphins won in overtime. Nine years ago these teams also met in a wild Thursday night game that ended with a walk-off safety in a Dolphins OT win.
This will be a fun coaching matchup, too. Miami’s Mike McDaniel and Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor, two bright members of the NFL’s coaching brat pack, each of whom will turn 40 following the season. McDaniel is trying to become the first Dolphins coach since Don Shula to start a season 4-0.
Here are four things to watch for when the Dolphins visit the Bengals on Thursday night on Prime Video:
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