Coming into Sunday's game, the team's infirmary report was secondary-heavy. Roy Williams, Chinedum Ndukwe and Johnathan Joseph were inactive against the Miami Dolphins while the team's starting cornerbacks, Leon Hall and Morgan Trent only practiced once this week with a hamstring and knee injury respectively.
Still, Cincinnati's offensive momentum keeps building, with the team's opening possession leading to a 15-play drive that went 86 yards, capped on a touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to Terrell Owens to give Cincinnati a 7-0 lead. The Bengals next three possessions would end with punts until a Morgan Trent interception led to Terrell Owens' second touchdown of the game, which in itself came off a lucky break after safety Chris Clemons bobbled a sure-interception. Owens swiped the juggling football out of the air and ran into the end zone to give the Bengals a 14-6 lead.
After the Bengals took 14-6 lead, Miami responded with a field goal. Cincinnati wanted to move the football again, but after an incomplete deep pass, the Dolphins wanted the football back, calling a timeout on the Bengals on a second down run. After a punt return to midfield, the Dolphins' Dan Carpenter converted a 54-yard field goal to reduce Cincinnati's lead to two points (14-12).
Defensively, the Bengals are performing better than the doom and gloom projected. Chad Henne, facing no pass rush by the Bengals defense with a majority of the team's starting secondary out or hurt, has yet to reach 100 yards passing and Brandon Marshall has only recorded one catch.