In a game that did not feel as close as the score indicated, the Bengals beat the Dolphins in Miami 31-24 to improve to 3-2 on the season.
Here are six winners and three losers from the Bengals victory over the Dolphins.
Winner: Jordan Battle
Battle stepped up in a major way after his struggles last week. After calling out Malik Willis' tells as a quarterback early in the week, Battle delivered on the confidence he displayed with two key interceptions.
The secondary consistently limited Willis' options, making him force throws outside of his comfort zone. This kind of bounce-back performance is the exact one that Battle needed after a week filled with criticism.
Loser: Dexter Lawrence
Lawrence committed two costly back-to-back penalties to extend the Dolphins opening drive. The first happened on a field goal attempt where the referees called him for roughing the center, with the second coming directly after for holding.
Winner: Dohnte Meyers
The Bengals have found their return man for the foreseeable future. Meyers returned the opening kickoff for 81 yards, setting up a Mike Gesicki touchdown to take a seven point lead in only three plays. Despite his mistake later in the game where he accidentally stepped out of bounds on a kickoff deep in Bengals territory, Meyers has earned enough faith from the coaching staff to feel secure.
Loser: Erick All Jr.
All has not changed the Bengals offense as much as many had hoped so far. Now after he had an opportunity to make that impact, it is fair to wonder if he will at this point. After committing a bone-headed penalty that negated a short kickoff, All had a fumble that Miami nearly recovered if not for the defenders toe hitting out of bounds.
Winner: Samaje Perine
Perine at this point looks to be the most trustworthy runner the Bengals have in their backfield. He caught a six-yard touchdown from Joe Burrow in the second-quarter, and gained more opportunities following a horrendous Chase Brown fumble in the red zone.
Perine finished with 16 touches for 78 yards, a touchdown, and an average of 4.9 yards per carry. After this performance, Zac Taylor has to dial up a more balanced attack between Brown and Perine as the former has been largely ineffective this season so far.
Loser: Chase Brown
As mentioned above, Brown lost a fumble in the first-half in the red zone and failed to make any true impact as a ball carrier. He finished with 16 touches for 60 yards and 3 yards per carry. Brown has done little to show he is deserving a big extension with the Bengals in a contract year.
Winner: Joe Burrow
Burrow controlled the game from from start to finish. He finished the game with four touchdown passes and 23 completions for 190 yards, and looked as poised as ever. This is the performance everyone should expect from Burrow against a lesser opponent.
Winner: Boye Mafe
Mafe got to Willis often in the backfield and forced the Dolphins quarterback to make hasty decisions, and even got home for his 3rd sack of the season. He also hit Willis while throwing to force an interception early in the second-quarter. Mafe continues to look like the young ascending player that the Bengals wanted when they signed him in the offseason.
Winner: Jonathan Allen
Allen had a critical strip-sack late in the fourth quarter that the Bengals recovered. The turnover gave the Bengals the chance to take a 31-18 lead late in what ended up being a one score margin of victory. He now has three sacks on the season and has played exceptionally in the role of a pass rusher.
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