8 winners and 7 losers in Bengals’ loss to Dolphins

Well, that was quite the way to lock up the No. 1 overall pick next year, eh? The Bengals and Dolphins gave us “extra football” Sunday, as Miami kicked the winning field goal as time expired in overtime.

It was an ugly three quarters by the Bengals, but they came up with some ridiculous plays and statistics in the fourth quarter. Here are the best and worst individual performers in the Bengals’ 38-35 loss in Miami.

Winners

Carlos Dunlap: The pressure up front was inconsistent on the day, but No. 96 kept up his late-season hot streak. Dunlap had a big quarterback hit on Ryan Fitzpatrick, as well as one of his trademark batted passes.

Kevin Huber: If there has been one constantly-solid performer in this embarrassing campaign by the Bengals, it has been their veteran punter. Huber had six punts and three of them landed inside of the Dolphins’, while also averaging 51.2 yards per punt.

Randy Bullock: The veteran kicker hit his first attempt, but things looked sketchy before the half with a 52-yard attempt. He missed both of those, but the acceptance of a Billy Price penalty allowed him a third try, which he made from 57—a career long. Bullock also hit a great onside kick attempt to ignite the comeback.

Tyler Boyd: He had a fourth quarter drop, but Boyd still makes plays while most of the offense sputters. Boyd was the leading receiver on the day, collecting eight catches for 99 yards and two beauties of touchdown receptions, as he secured No. 200 for Andy Dalton.

Andy Dalton: Look, he missed some passes and committed a turnover (fumble), but he fought through really poor protection to hit the 200 career touchdown pass milestone. He did have four scores and almost 400 passing yards, while giving Cincinnati a great shot to win the game.

Dalton one of those four touchdowns was at the expiration of regulation and followed it up with a scamper into the send zone for the game-tying two-point conversion. Congratulations to No. 14 for passing Phil Simms on the league’s all-time list.

C.J. Uzomah: It’s been an up-and-down season from Uzomah, but he had a solid day of work against Miami. He had four catches for 37 yards and a score.

Darius Phillips: The backup corner came up with some solid plays on Sunday. He supplied an interception and three total passes defensed, while also netting 25 yards per his two kickoff returns.

“The Burrowers”: You wanted a loss to sew up the No. 1 overall pick next year? You got it. Welcome to Cincinnati, Joe.

Losers

William Jackson III: This might have been one of the worst games we’ve witnessed by the veteran corner. DaVante Parker had a standout game against Jackson, who was seen spinning in circles on an underthrown flea-flicker pass to allow a big gain, while contributing to the resurrection of Parker’s NFL career.

Billy Price: The second-year interior lineman had a rough day in more ways than one. He was filling in at right guard for the injured John Miller, but relinquished pressure and had a false start to nearly botch a end-of-half field goal opportunity.

John Ross: Not only have he and Dalton not been on the same page for the sorely-needed deep balls, but concentration drops just keep occurring. He also made a critical error in overtime, not getting past the sticks on a third down catch.

It’s unclear if he’s just not seeing the ball well, or if we expect him to make some plays via extension that we’ve become accustomed to with A.J. Green, but he’s just not supplying consistent big plays.

Joe Mixon: The star running back had a great streak going the past six games, wherein he had three 100-yard rushing games, but Sunday was rough. Not only was poor No. 28 battling a “stomach bug”, but he could not find running room, en route to just 51 rushing yards and 2.4 yards per carry. In fairness, the blocking up front was atrocious on Sunday.

Fred Johnson: The waiver pickup was filling in at left tackle for Cordy Glenn came with disastrous results. Johnson was twice flagged for a false start and couldn’t pave anything on the outside for the run game.

Lou Anarumo: Whether it was letting up a record-setting first half of passing to Fitzpatrick, falling into a 14-0 first quarter hole, or the inability to cover a tight end once again, it was a gigantic step backward for a defensive unit that had played relatively well in recent weeks. The secondary looked completely confused and uninspired, while giving up 38 points and

Zac Taylor: This team looked totally unprepared and uninspired when taking the field this week, until the final few minutes in regulation, that is. It was another one possession loss—the eighth of 2019—but the team kept playing after falling into a gigantic hole.

To make matters worse, Taylor is set to either tie or break the franchise record for the worst single season record in Bengals history. Common sense tells us that Taylor will be back in 2020, but if he breaks the record via sweep by the hated Browns to conclude the year, who knows if he’ll actually get to use that No. 1 overall pick?