The Cincinnati Bengals have the lead in the race to the no. 1 pick in next year’s NFL Draft, but the Miami Dolphins are not that far behind them, though, the window is fast closing on them to suck more than Andy Dalton and company. In a matchup between two of the worst teams in the NFL, who gets to secure a rare victory?
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said that they were “bullied” in last Sunday’s 34-13 loss at home to the New England Patriots. He was right. The Bengals got rolled into a carpet and thrown into the river by the defending Super Bowl champions, mainly because Cincinnati’s offense was out of synch. Andy Dalton passed for just 151 passing yards and a touchdown while also getting picked off four times. Dalton is a better quarterback than what his stat line in that game suggested. A lot of the blame can be pinned on the Bengals’ receiving corps who struggled to pull down catches. However, the Bengals can afford to be optimistic of their chances to elevate their play in the passing and rushing attacks in Week 16 as they are up against Miami’s Swiss cheese defense that is ranked worst in the league with 31.3 points allowed per game. Joe Mixon, who rushed for 136 yards against the Pats will be a man to watch for the Bengals against Miami’s stop unit that is allowing 140.9 rushing yards per game.
The Bengals are 7-3 against the spread (ATS) in their last 10 road games.
Betting on the Miami Dolphins (3-11)
In a battle between two bad teams, it’s the Dolphins who emerged as the worst in last week’s 36-20 road loss to the New York Giants. The game magnified almost everything that is wrong with Miami, particularly in the trenches. Although Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to throw for two touchdowns and zero interceptions on 23-of-41 completions, he was sacked three times for a loss of 17 yards. The Dolphins’ ground attack had 122 rushing yards on 25 carries, but most were meaningless runs. A silver lining for the Dolphins in that game was the play of wide receiver DeVante Parker, who added two more receiving touchdowns to his season totals to go with 72 receiving yards on four catches. Parker has always found a way to make plays downfield against any quality of opposition. Up against Cincinnati’s punchless defense next, Parker could put up yet another scintillating performance.
