The Cincinnati Bengals visit the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026, at 1 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is a meeting that puts a 2-2 team against an 0-4 team, with Cincinnati entering as 7-point favorites.
Joe Burrow has been the key reason the Bengals still look like an offense that can control a game. Through four games, he has 1,171 passing yards and seven touchdowns, and Cincinnati's passing game ranks fifth in the NFL. The challenge has been on the ground, where the Bengals rank 30th with 277.5 rushing yards per game and have leaned heavily on the pass to generate production.
What the recent results show
Cincinnati has won two games and then lost two straight, including a 22-17 loss to Jacksonville on Oct. 4. In that game, Burrow completed 39 of 54 passes, while Chase Brown gained 10 yards on nine carries. A week earlier, Burrow threw three touchdown passes at Pittsburgh, and the Bengals also got a 210-yard passing performance from Malik Willis against Kansas City.
On the Miami side, the Dolphins are still searching for their first win after opening 0-4. They have scored 13 points or fewer in each of their first four games, and their passing game ranks 30th in the NFL. Miami's ground game has been more productive than its aerial attack, ranking 19th.
Players to watch
For Cincinnati, Burrow is the clear headline, but Chase Brown also remains a player to monitor after a mixed stretch on the ground. For Miami, Ollie Gordon II provided one of the team's few bright spots in the Oct. 4 loss at Minnesota, running nine times for 100 yards and a touchdown.
The matchup gives Cincinnati a chance to steady itself and Miami a chance to reset in front of its home crowd. The numbers point in different directions, but both teams enter with something to prove as the game kicks off in Miami Gardens.
