The Miami Dolphins had their hands full with the Cincinnati Bengals in more ways than one on Sunday afternoon. Miami, which won by a final score of 19-7 to push their record to 8-4 on the season, found themselves trailing for the entirety of the first half and fed up with some reckless play from the lowly Bengals once the Dolphins had wrestled away control of the football game. Whether it was intentionally cleating & stepping on a Dolphins’ lineman on the ground or some egregiously bad cheap shots on punt returner Jakeem Grant, the Bengals pushed the envelope with Miami’s “play smart” demeanor until Miami decided to put their foot down.
The tensions bubbled over with Bengals gunner Michael Thomas spearing Jakeem Grant early and before the ball arrived, injuring the Dolphins receiver on the play. From there, Brian Flores stormed across the field as his staff checked on the condition of Grant and gave a number of Bengals personnel an earful before being pushed away from a rapidly growing scrum.
Fisticuffs ensued and after Bengals safety Shawn Williams, who was the player who intentionally cleated Solomon Kindley in the first half, swung and connected with Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker, who retaliated back with swings of his own. In all, a total of five were ejected on Sunday — Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd and Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard were ejected on an earlier altercation that was questionable at best to warrant ejection.
But with the Dolphins bracing for a showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend, the prospect of Miami missing Parker, Howard or WR Mack Hollins via suspension was a question on the front of a lot of people’s minds this morning — although a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is indicating that there are not expected to be any suspensions as a result of the scrum.
The participants of this melee — including those ejected — will be reviewed for possible fines, not suspensions, source says. https://t.co/37ReTLWRTl
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 7, 2020
That’s a win for Miami, who must now begin to transition from reviewing the aftermath of the Bengals game and begin bracing for the Kansas City Chiefs to come to town — where the Dolphins will be faced with their biggest and baddest test of the season. The good news it appears as though all hands will be on deck among those who were given an early exit during yesterday’s win.