Bengals vs. Dolphins 2013, Week 9: Miami wins on safety in OT

While the overtime sack was Cincinnati’s most glaring mistake of the night, Josh Kirkendall of Cincy Jungle points to a host of offensive mishaps that helped contribute to the loss, which broke a four-game winning streak by the Bengals.

Kevin Nogle at The Phinsider takes it from there, recapping the overtime period.

UPDATE: Head coach Marvin Lewis announced Friday that results of an MRI exam have confirmed Geno Atkins’s injury is indeed a torn ACL and that he will miss the remainder of the 2013 season, according to NBC Sports.

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The offense needed a strong performance in a win to give themselves momentum. They got it ... sort of.

Because of the interceptions return after a long Bengals drive, the Dolphins’ offense did not touch the ball until there was just 2:10 left in the third quarter. They promptly stalled. After rushing 22 times for 142 yards in the first half, the Dolphins ran the ball ran the ball just five times for 14 yards through the rest of regulation. The Dolphins waited until the fourth quarter to record their first first down after the intermission. On their next set of downs, they punted on 4th-and-1 from their own 46-yard line.

Dalton’s struggles went beyond a good quarterback having a bad game. Typically passers will try to do too much with the football or try to force a play into existence without logic, but Dalton routinely made poor decisions or threw the ball inaccurately. At times he was let down by poor receiver play, particularly from Mohammad Sanu who dropped numerous passes, but many ill-advised throws were a byproduct of Dalton throwing high or wide, and two of his three interceptions came when he threw behind his receivers.

Dalton’s 55.4 passer rating was his lowest since September 2011, which was his third career NFL start. Thursday night’s game was an inauspicious return to a time poor performances could be easily written off as rookie growing pains, but this was in a game when his team needed him to transcend simply being a smart passer and put the team on his back.

The result was just the third time an NFL game ended with a safety in overtime, the broadcast reported.

Giovani Bernard played an excellent game, but was forced out in the fourth quarter with a rib injury.

Bernard had been having an excellent second half before leaving the game. His last carry was a spectacular 35-yard touchdown run during which he escaped a sure-tackle in the backfield, changed fields and weaved through defenders to tie the game at 17 apiece. For the game, he has nine carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns.

Bernard has yet to be officially ruled out for the game, but with fewer than two minutes remaining it appears unlikely that he will return in time to help his team.

Why didn’t the Bengals use more Gio Bernard in the first half? Who knows! It’s the Bengals. It’s Thursday Night Football.

This 35-yard touchdown run by the rookie running back almost made it worth sitting through three quarters of ugliness.

Harrison had yet to crack the stat sheet before leaving. He has been a spot contributor the Bengals this season. Through eight games, he has 16 tackles with two sacks.

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The winner will likely be determined by whoever can settle down and play conservative football in the second half.

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After eventually being carted to the locker room, Atkins is officially questionable to return.

UPDATE: Atkins has been ruled out for the game, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Reports after the game indicate Atkins suffered a torn ACL.

Trainers were spotted working on Incognito’s neck along the sideline after he left the game. Midway through the second quarter, Incognito could still be seen without his helmet on.

The Bengals currently lead the Dolphins, 3-0. Miami is within striking distance and has been able to move the ball well on the ground at times, but that could end if Incognito is unable to return.

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While Cincinnati is on the rise, the Dolphins’ season has gone the opposite direction. Miami has lost four straight games after a 3-0 start. Miami is just 1-2 at home this season, but its three home games have been decided by a total of nine points.

Miami is 3-4 on the season, but only one of those games was decided by more than 13 points. Miami opened the season with a pair of close wins and its luck has changed recently. Its last three losses have been decided by a total of 15 points.

Game Date/Time and Location: Thursday, Oct. 31, 8:25 p.m. ET at Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Fla.

TV schedule and distribution map: NFL Network; The506.com

Accordingly, the Bengals have been consistent for bettors, going 5-2 against the spread over their last seven games. This is a stark contrast to the Dolphins, who have only managed to cover just once over their last five games. Their record straight-up over their last five is also 1-4, with all four of the losses coming in a row after beginning the season with a 3-0 mark.

But there are some significant trends worth noting that could lead one to betting on Miami. Rather, there are some trends that could make it difficult to bet on Cincinnati. The Bengals have lost 10 of their last 12 games they’ve played against Miami, and they are 3-9 against the spread against the Dolphins since 1980.

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The 6-2 Bengals are a slight betting favorite despite being on the road against 3-4 Miami. All eight of the NFL writers at CBS Sports picked Cincinnati to improve to 7-2. When picking against the spread, all eight still picked Cincinnati even with the Bengals giving 2.5 points. Cincinnati’s defense was the deciding factor for John Breech, who predicted a 24-20 win for the Bengals:

Les Carpenter of Yahoo! Sports joined the other writers in picking Cincinnati, but Frank Schwab picked Miami to win. Not many others are on Schwab’s side, but SB Nation’s Matt Ufford is. Ufford was the only one of the six SB Nation writers to pick the Dolphins.