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The Cincinnati Bengals, without Joe Burrow, aren’t very good.
Their defense still has some stars like Jessie Bates III, but their issues lie on the offensive side of the ball. The Bengals just can’t move the ball as Joe Mixon has been out for several games and superstar No. 1 pick Burrow will miss the remainder of the season.
The Bengals have lost six of their last seven games. They’ve lost games to the New York Giants and Washington Football Team. The Bengals just haven’t been able to do well without Burrow.
Burrow, as the season moved forward, figured out how to play with a subpar offensive line. He got the ball out quickly. Brandon Allen hasn’t quite been able to as he got into the game a few weeks ago after Burrow went down and was almost immediately sacked four times.
Miami is in the top half of the league in sacks. They average 2.3 sacks per game, and they’ll likely be able to get to Allen early and often. The opposite may not be true though as the team hasn’t played Geno Atkins much and traded Carlos Dunlap.
Ryan Fitzpatrick will be starting for Miami. He’s proven to be a solid option on a team that has playoff aspirations.
Fitz has three games in which he’s had multiple interceptions. He also has multiple games without a touchdown and five games of two or more touchdowns. Fitzpatrick is very hit or miss, and we’ll be hoping he misses against the Bengals.
As for Allen, he’ll have the options. With Tyler Boyd, A.J. Green and Tee Higgins running routes, the Bengals should be just fine if they can keep the Dolphins defensive line at bay.
For what it’s worth, the Bengals will open up as strong underdogs in Vegas, so the betting likely won’t be on their side. That said, do you think the Bengals will get lucky as they head to the Sunshine State?
Poll
Will the Bengals defeat the Miami Dolphins?
This poll is closed
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11%
Absolutely
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88%
No Burrow so no way