The Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins kick off week four of the NFL, both hoping to kickstart their disappointing seasons to date on Thursday night football. 

Slow starts for both

It's been a far from ideal start to the season for both the Dolphins and the Bengals, as they come into week four with identical 1-2 records. This is the Bengals third straight game at Paul Brown Stadium and their still looking for a win at home after back to back defeats against their divisional rival, Pittsburgh Steelers and most recently a 29-17 loss to the Denver Broncos

Also Marvin Lewis team's only win so far, a 23-22 victory at the New York Jets was far from comfortable or convincing, so there's plenty for them to work on as they finish out their homestand. 

Meanwhile, it's been a similar start for the Dolphins after they started out the year with back to back losses against all be it two title contenders in the form of the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, both losses coming by a score or less as well.

If anything the worst Adam Gase's team have played in 2016 was the week three 30-24 overtime win over the very poor Cleveland Browns. If it wasn't for three missed field goals from Cody Parkey, including one in the last minute of regulation, Miami would have most likely come into this game 0-3.

Offensive struggles

A big factor in both team's slow starts is how much their struggling to score touchdowns and protect their fragile defences, especially in the case of the Dolphins who simply couldn't handle Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor, no matter what he did, whether catching, running or even throwing the football to a huge effect.

Andy Dalton has had a down year so far in 2016 | Source: Gary Landers - AP
Andy Dalton has been okay so far in 2016 | Source: Gary Landers - AP

It's a strange one in relation to both offense's struggles as starting quarterbacks Andy Dalton and Ryan Tannehill are both in the top 10 for passing yards so far this season, but then you like at both guy's ratings and it's not difficult to figure out why the teams are playing sub .500 ball. 

The two signal callers who both played their college football in Texas have QB ratings around the 88 mark. their combined Touchdown interception ratio is just 7:6, with Dalton only throwing for two scores, but Tannehill has thrown more picks and ultimately left precious points on the field for his team. 

A big reason for the inconsistent passing game on both sides is the fact they're running a one-dimensional offense and not offering much of a running game. The Dolphins have planned starter Arian Foster out injured at the moment and coach Gase hasn't really made up his mind as to who's going to fill the void. 

Kenyan Drake got the most carries against the Browns with nine, closely followed British-born player Jay Ajayi who with the last of his seven carries scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime, with an 11-yard run to bail them out on Sunday.

As for the Bengals, it's been a similar story as they rank 27th in rushing yards per game with an average of just better than 80 as a team. There are signs of improvement for coach Lewis though as Jeremy Hill fell just short of 100 yards on 17 carries against the Broncos and ran for two touchdowns, plus Cinci goes up against the 2nd worst rush defence in the league so far this year, with the Dolphins giving nearly 150 yards per game on the ground in the first three weeks.

Injury report

There are a few doubts for the Bengals coming into this one after a short week, although star tight end Tyler Eifert is apparently close to playing again after his ankle injury, but this game is likely to be too soon for him.

Also on the defensive side of the ball, they have concerns as safety Derron Smith and Dre Kirkpatrick both didn't practice on Tuesday while another safety, Shaun Williams has been limited.

Arian Foster did not practice on Tuesday and is not expected to play | Source: Stephen Brashear - AP
Arian Foster did not practice on Tuesday and is not expected to play | Source: Stephen Brashear - AP

The Dolphins have 16 players on their injury report, most notably running back Foster and tight end Jordan Cameron who had to be removed from the game on Sunday against his old team because of the concussion protocol and has therefore been ruled out of this one. 

The offensive line also looks shaky for Miami with center Anthony Steen not available and his back-up Mike Pouncey not practicing, while left tackle Branden Albert joined Pouncey in not training on Tuesday.

Head to Head

Despite both being in the AFC, these two have not met since a Halloween game in the 2013 season, which the Dolphins won at home in overtime.

Miami leads the all-time head to head 16-5 and has only lost on one of their four visits to Paul Brown stadium. 

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About the author
Jamie Joslyn
20 year old sports journalism at Sunderland University, huge Sunderland fan