The Miami Dolphins are 8-4 after pulling out an ugly, scrappy 19-7 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13 of this 2020 NFL season. Miami started slow — the Dolphins found themselves trailing 7-6 at the half and appeared positioned to fall further off the pace than just a one-point deficit if not for a personal foul penalty from WR Tyler Boyd that pushed Cincinnati’s field goal attempt to a 53-yarder, which the Bengals missed.
But the real story of this game was the chippy play of the Bengals. With little left to play for this season (and little going for them on the gridiron), the Bengals seemed contest to try to turn this contest into a scrap — several questionable plays before (and after) the whistle were persistent throughout the course of the game. The first ejections came on that personal foul from Boyd, who exchanged open handed shoves with CB Xavien Howard after the play.
But the league offices seemed to perceive those shoves as punches and sent both players packing at the end of the first half. Early in the 4th quarter, the Dolphins were set to receive the football back on a punt return when Bengals gunner Michael Thomas delivered his second personal foul on returner Jakeem Grant on the day — and a full on team scrap ensued, highlighted by head coach Brian Flores storming across the field to give the Bengals a piece of his mind for their careless play.
“I’m gonna stick up for my players. They’re going to stick up for each other,” said Flores in the postgame press conference.
“These are like my kids. The first time, yeah. The second time, I got a little upset about it.”
Flores did concede that he needed to be better keeping his composure to avoid situations that hurt the team. Wide receivers Mack Hollins and DeVante Parker were ejected along with Bengals safety Shawn Williams — who appeared to purposefully cleat Dolphins guard Solomon Kindley in the first half and swung at Parker in the 4th-quarter scrum.
The NFL will be left to sort out the aftermath in the coming days — and hopefully their discretion is more appropriate than the league’s decision to eject both Boyd and Howard in the first half.
Offensively, the Dolphins started slow but were able to build some offensive momentum by allowing rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to operate some no-huddle in the second half. Tagovailoa finished the day 26 of 39 passing for 296 yards and a score — arguably his most effective day as an NFL quarterback. He flashed great rapport with TE Mike Gesicki, who logged 9 receptions for 88 yards and was comfortable throughout a massive third quarter after a clunky offensive performance in the first half.
Defensively, the Dolphins yielded 94 yards on two plays in this game, a 72-yard catch and run in the first quarter and a 22-yard catch on 4th-and-short late in the game — and 102 yards on their other 48 plays from scrimmage. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy had a major contribution with three sacks on the day and the Dolphins’ pass rush was smothering in the second half.
“I just thought we did a better job bringing more energy and urgency and we started playing football. I think it showed,” said Van Noy in the postgame when asked about what changed.
The Dolphins will now shift their focus to Week 14 — with the Kansas City Chiefs coming to town. If Miami is able to bring their second half energy, we should be in for some fireworks next Sunday. But for now, Miami will assess what went well today and make adjustments while enjoying the sweet taste of victory. The Dolphins are 8-4 for the first time since 2003.