Bold Predictions for Bengals v. Dolphins

Dohnte Meyers: 60+ yard TD, 100 yards on 8 catches

Cincinnati could be down both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on Sunday against the Dolphins, leaving the door open for Dohnte Meyers to be the Bengals' #1 wide receiver for at least a week. 

Chase is dealing with a concussion, while Higgins has an adductor strain. Chase left the game early against the Jaguars and did not return, while Higgins' injury happened late. He tried to come back in but couldn’t, suggesting the injury was minor. 

Meyers has shown his top-of-the-line speed and separation through four weeks, and nearly broke off a big touchdown, but he was tripped up on a shoestring tackle by a Jacksonville DB. 

Against a Dolphins defensive backfield that has some holes, Meyers will have a big game, scoring a long touchdown and going for 100 yards on eight or more receptions. 

Mike Gesicki: two touchdowns

Burrow made no bones about his interest in throwing the ball even more despite having 54 attempts against the Jaguars last weekend. With Chase and Higgins possibly out, look for Gesicki to get a lot of red-zone targets. He came close to grabbing the game-winning touchdown late against the Jaguars, but an errant throw by Burrow led to an incompletion. Burrow expected Gesicki to run a post, but Gesicki kept running up the seam into the end zone, showing clear miscommunication.

Burrow targeted Gesicki in the red area against the Jaguars, which led to a touchdown, his third of the season. 

Chase Brown held to under 60 yards

The Dolphins have a pretty solid rushing defense, allowing just 3.6 yards per carry. I wouldn’t expect the Bengals to try to establish the run game this week, and even if they did, there’s no guarantee Brown would capitalize on the opportunities. 

He has struggled with the chances he’s gotten, as has Samaje Perine, despite Cincinnati having the #1 run-block win rate in the league through four weeks.

Cincinnati sacks Malik Willis six times

The Bengals sacked Trevor Lawrence four times, and the Dolphins are the #30 team in the NFL in QB sacked % as Malik Willis is taken down on just under 10% of dropbacks. 

The defense knows they are now 1-2 stops away from being 4-0 this season. The offense deserves a ton of blame for the two losses, but Cincinnati knows its defense can be very good. If Bryan Cook is back, expect Willis to hold the ball a little longer, giving Dexter Lawrence and Boye Mafe more chances to get to the Dolphins' QB.