The Cincinnati Bengals got a win in Miami over the Dolphins before the bye week.
But Joe Burrow stressed concerns after the game for a reason.
Fair to call it an ugly win. The Bengals dominated the game, but a late push made things tense and the box score wound up 31-24. Lots of mistakes, little and big, against an 0-5 team.
As the Bengals head for a bye week, here are a few overreactions from the game.
Samaje Perine is RB1
The Chase Brown experiment feels like it should be over. The eye test doesn't lie when it comes to his missing better running lanes, going down on first contact or even oddly seeking out contact when he doesn’t need to do so.
The stat sheet doesn't lie either. Brown carried it 13 times for 39 yards (3.0 average) in Miami. He’s up to 246 yards and
one score on a 3.5 average over five games.
Samaje Perine made the offense look more balanced and versatile in Miami while carrying it 14 times for 68 yards (4.9 average). The offense seems to do better with a bruising back like him.
There’s still a place for Brown, obviously, and the team should probably be looking at outside options. But it feels like the Perine show now.
Erick All might be a dud
For now, anyway.
Erick All is back from injury and a key part of the plan to keep the offense versatile and unpredictable.
Sounds good on paper, and looked good in limited chances in past years. But while All caught all three of his targets for 25 yards against the Dolphins, he had a brutal fumble that was pretty much unforced.
This brings to mind a certain stat from a week ago:
Bengals offense with Erick All on the field this season (68 plays)
— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) October 5, 2026
-0.25 EPA per play
39.7% Success Rate
3.1 yards per play
10.6% explosive play rate
Bengals Offense without Erick All on the field this season (187 plays)
+0.15 EPA per play
45.6% Success Rate
6.7 yards per play…
Overall, the Bengals clearly failed in the under-center implementation. They’re going back to more shotgun stuff. That’s not totally All’s fault, but he’ll see a reduction as offense undergoes the shift.
Darrin Simmons might deserve a hot seat
This would have been a very odd thing to say a few weeks back. But special teams miscues have been a weekly thing from coordinator Darrin Simmons’ unit. The exclamation point was the weird blocked-punt attempt that resulted in roughing and basically cost them the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
More problems in Miami, too, topped off by the horrific decision inside the five-yard line, to the point Burrow and Zac Taylor basically called it out after the game.
This isn’t advocating for a major change. But there needs to be a spotlight right now because what has been a solid bedrock for the Bengals since Simmons joined on in 2003 is suddenly causing problems and it can’t be allowed to continue.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: 3 Bengals overreactions going into bye week
