Joe Burrow passed for 287 yards and two touchdowns and Evan McPherson kicked two fourth-quarter field goals to help the Cincinnati Bengals record a 27-15 victory over the visiting Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.
The Dolphins lost standout quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to head and neck injuries in the second quarter. He was taken off the field on a stretcher and transported to University of Cincinnati Medical Center for evaluation.
Tee Higgins caught seven passes for 124 yards and one touchdown for the Bengals (2-2). Vonn Bell intercepted two passes, Joe Mixon rushed for a score and Hayden Hurst caught a touchdown pass.
Teddy Bridgewater replaced Tagovailoa and completed 14 of 23 passes for 193 yards, one touchdown and one interception for Miami (3-1). Tyreek Hill caught 10 passes for 160 yards for the Dolphins, whose loss leaves the Philadelphia Eagles as the NFL’s lone unbeaten team.
Tagovailoa was sacked by Cincinnati’s Josh Tupou and swung to the ground violently with 5:43 left in the first half. The Dolphins said Tagovailoa was conscious, had movement in all his extremities and would travel home with the team.
Tagovailoa completed 8 of 14 passes for 110 yards and one interception before exiting.
Cincinnati took a 17-15 lead on McPherson’s 19-yard field goal with 12 minutes left to play. He kicked another one three times as long — 57 yards — to give the Bengals a 20-15 lead with 6:13 remaining.
Bell collected his second interception of the game with 3:05 left and returned it 46 yards to the Dolphins’ 45-yard line. Five plays later, Burrow threw a 2-yard scoring pass to Hurst to make it a 12-point advantage with 1:52 to play.
The Bengals scored on the opening drive with Mixon rushing in from the 5.
Jason Sanders kicked field goals of 23 and 48 yards to move Miami within one with 7:31 left in the first half.
Burrow connected with Higgins on a 59-yard pass to give Cincinnati a 14-6 lead with 2:50 remaining in the half. Higgins caught the ball at the 30 and cruised down the left sideline.
Bridgewater flipped a shovel pass to Chase Edmonds on a 7-yard scoring pass with nine seconds left in the half. Sanders clanked the extra point off the right upright, however.
Miami moved ahead 15-14 on Sanders’ 20-yard field goal with 2:30 left in the third quarter. The field goal was set up by Bridgewater’s 64-yard completion to Hill.
–Field Level Media
