When the lights shine brightest, the Bengals have been known to wither.
Luckily for them, they encountered the hapless Dolphins at Paul Brown Stadium on Thursday, and receiver A.J. Green took care of the rest in a 22-7 victory that snapped a two-game losing streak and kept the defending AFC North champions from a 1-3 start.
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Cincinnati's offense struggled to get things going in its first three games but came alive as it latched on to Green, who notched 10 receptions for 173 receiving yards, his second game of 170 or more this season.
It was all Green in the first half, as he burned through the Dolphins secondary for 123 of those yards on eight catches. One was a 51-yard reception in the second quarter, when Green plucked an Andy Dalton heave from the clutches of Dolphins corner Xavien Howard. Four plays later, Green caught a 7-yard touchdown to give the Bengals their first lead.
The Bengals more than doubled the Dolphins in total yards in the first half (239-104) en route to a 16-7 halftime lead.
Cincinnati's defense took over in the second half, spurred on by the return of emotional leader Vontaze Burfict. It registered five sacks on Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill, who had not thrown a touchdown pass in two career wins against the Bengals, took care of that in short order with a 71-yard bomb to Kenny Stills on Miami's first drive. It was good for an early 7-3 lead, but was the Dolphins' lone highlight. Ninety-eight of Tannehill's 189 passing yards came on a pair of receptions by Stills and Jarvis Landry, as the struggling Dolphins quarterback failed to solve a Bengals pass defense that allowed Trevor Siemian to throw four touchdowns in Week 3.
Tannehill finished 15 of 25 with the touchdown and an interception.
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Dalton, meanwhile, entered the matchup 4-9 as a starter in night games, with a meager 75.8 quarterback rating. But thanks to Green's performance, he was able to break the trend, completing 22 of 31 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown. Never mind that the Bengals stalled twice in three trips to the red zone, settling for field goals inside the 10-yard line each time.
Cincinnati is now 3-4 in its last seven Thursday games and, more importantly, avoided its first three-game losing streak since 2012.
