Week 4 TNF Preview
Week 4 Thursday Night Football Preview
Miami Dolphins vs Cincinnati Bengals
8:25PM EST at Paul Brown Stadium
66F-54F Mostly cloudy 20% chance of precipitation.
CIN -7.5 O/U: 44.5
The Bengals (1-2) host the Dolphins (1-2) in this week’s Thursday night matchup. The Dolphins lead this series 16-5 with Miami winning the last 3. Miami is coming off an overtime win over the Browns while the Bengals are reeling from a week 3 loss to the Broncos that saw the Bengals give up two late game touchdowns.
Miami is missing an effective running game
The Dolphins haven’t been playing well on the road and they haven’t been effective on 1st and 3rd downs. They are 25th in the league in rushing, 28th in rushing attempts, and 26th in 3rd down conversions. The team has been without it’s star RB Arian Foster and several offensive linemen which has forced them to lean more on the passing game. Jarvis Landry leads the NFL with 24 receptions (tied with Antonio Brown) and Ryan Tannehill has over 700 passing yards in the last two games.
The Bengals are on a skid
The Bengals squeaked out a week 1 win against the Jets but have lost the last two. This is the worst start for the club in five years and the first time they have been below .500 since 2014. The team has been out of sync on both offense and defense, probably due to being without key starters TE Tyler Eifert and LB Vontaze Burfict. Burfict returns from suspension Thursday and Eifert is close to returning from an ankle injury. The Bengals recommitted to the running game last week and it worked well for them. Miami’s run defense is 31st in the league so expect Cincinnati to exploit that weakness.
Both teams have had tough opening schedules
The Bengals lost to their divisional rival Pittsburg Steelers in week 2 and lost their home opener against the Broncos last week. Miami began the season with road losses against the Seahawks and the Patriots. Both teams are 1-2 and in need of a win to set a positive tone for the rest of the season.
Injuries:
Tyler Eifert (TE-CIN) – Ankle, Doubtful
Jordan Cameron (TE-MIA) – Concussion, Out
Arian Foster (RB-MIA) – Groin, Out
START WINNING
YOUR DRAFTKINGS COMPETITIONS
NFL & PGA Lineup Buildeer.
ONE MEMBERSHIP.
Join today and receive instant access to handpicked fantasy players for all NFL & PGA DraftKings Linesups. Start outscoring your competition and learn the strategies to become a daily fantasy guru.
