Even with that uncertainty, the board has the Bengals as a comfortable road favorite. That says less about Cincinnati than about where Miami sits. The Dolphins have lost to the Raiders, 49ers, Chiefs and Vikings and scored 46 points across the 4 games. They've been held to 13 or fewer every week. No team has given them a reason to be afraid of this offense yet.
Cincinnati's 2-game skid is closer than the record looks. The Bengals lost 30-27 at Pittsburgh and then fell short against Jacksonville with Burrow throwing 54 times. The defense is where the roster is getting thin. B.J. Hill (Achilles), Bryan Cook (ankle), Kyle Dugger and Swayze Bozeman (groin) were all inactive against the Jaguars, and corner Jalen Davis went to IR with a hamstring injury. Dexter Lawrence II had 2 sacks at Pittsburgh and is the one piece of the front that's clearly working. He'll face a Miami line that has had guard DJ Campbell and tackle Chukwuebuka Godrick inactive.
Miami's injury list is worse. De'Von Achane is on IR with a knee injury, so Ollie Gordon II has been the lead back, and he ran 17 times for 41 yards against Kansas City. The secondary took more hits in Minnesota: Reese Taylor was ruled out with a quad injury and Dante Trader Jr. went down with a knee. That's a bad position to be in against Burrow, especially if Cincinnati's receivers end up healthier than expected. There's a little help coming. Hafley said Kenneth Grant could start practicing next week, and Storm Duck's 21-day practice window is open.
Kickoff is 1:00 PM ET at Hard Rock Stadium. The early forecast says 90 degrees and mostly sunny with wind around 14 mph, but that's a week out and will change. The game mostly comes down to 1 question: who is catching passes from Burrow? If Chase and Higgins clear, Cincinnati should be able to throw at will against a depleted Miami secondary. If they don't, Burrow is throwing to Meyers, Mike Gesicki and backs out of the backfield, and a winless home team gets a chance to hang around.