The Miami Dolphins are for real, in the sense that they are definitely a team to deal with in the AFC. Whether they wind up reigning supreme in the East is a question that has yet to be answered, but for the moment they are at the top of the heap.

On Thursday night they will make the quick turnaround from a stirring victory over the Buffalo Bills and face the Cincinnati Bengals in a game that will begin at 8:15 PM ET at Paycor Stadium (formerly Paul Brown Stadium). BetOnline patrons can see the game on Amazon Prime Video. 

The Dolphins have met with success in all three games thus far, and they have provided some drama in the last two, as they came back from being down 35-14 after three quarters against the Baltimore Ravens (to win 42-38) and then made two defensive stands late in the fourth quarter (one of them from the one-yard line) to beat the Buffalo Bills, who had looked almost indestructible until then. A mangled punt caused a Miami safety, which led to the second defensive stop.

The Bengals had some bizarre special teams moments of their own in the opener against the Steelers, as they lost their long snapper to an injury and had to endure two missed kicks because of it. They could not keep Micah Parsons out of their backfield when they played Dallas, and then they got some relief last week as they played the discombobulated Jets and won 27-12. So maybe they are about to turn the corner.

In the Thursday night NFL betting odds that have been posted on this game by the folks at BetOnline, the Bengals are the favorites:

Cincinnati Bengals -3.5
Miami Dolphins +3.5

Over 48.5 points -110
Under 48.5 points -110

New coach Mike McDaniel has brought a lot of hope to Miami. And management went out and got the guy who is the biggest difference-maker thus far, as they acquired Tyreek Hill from Kansas City. Together with Jaylen Waddle, they form the fastest wide receiver duo in the NFL, in all likelihood. They riddled the Baltimore secondary for a lot of big plays a couple of weeks ago, as Tua Tagovailoa had 469 yards.

The thing that has to be a big disappointment is that Miami has not made a lot of strides with its ground game, averaging just 3.3 ypc. McDaniel made this a priority, because he is a rushing game "guru," and maybe that will straighten itself out. This would be a good time for that to happen, as the defensive unit spent 90 plays on the field just four days ago, and it would be nice if they got some rest.

Cincinnati doesn't have much of a running game either (right there with the Dolphins at 3.3 ypc), but we know that Joe Burrow is a quarterback who's been able to make plays under some very adverse circumstances. Last year he was sacked a total of 70 times, and he got his team to the Super Bowl anyway. He has the ability to burn Cover 1 schemes, as well as blitzes, even with the poor offensive line play. And only a handful of QB's have a lower "Bad Throw" percentage than he does.

We know that this is partially a by-product of the opposition they've played, but Miami has permitted more yardage per drive than all but one NFL team. And they have allowed twenty more yards per drive than the Bengals have. So Burrow ought to be able to some business. Absent a Dolphin rushing attack that suddenly appears, we like the Bengals minus the points in this one.

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