Bengals' victory overshadowed by injuries to Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Miami Dolphins 27-15 on Thursday night, but head and neck injuries suffered by Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the second quarter were the story of the game at Paycor Stadium.

Thursday night's game between the Bengals (2-2) and Dolphins wasn't pretty, but Cincinnati was able to gut out a victory in the end.

Cincinnati won't be complaining about how it got the win, however. The Bengals opened the season with back-to-back losses. As in Week 4 last season, Cincinnati ended up with a tough game on its hands, at home, on «Thursday Night Football.» And like last year, the Bengals did just enough to pull out a much-needed win.

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Describe the game in two words: Prime-time malaise. On a showcase night for the Bengals, Cincinnati was a bit sluggish but was still in the mix to pull out another win on «Thursday Night Football.»

Sell a breakout performance: Bengals running back Joe Mixon looked good early on the team's opening drive when he picked up steady chunks of yards and scored his first rushing touchdown of the season. But over the course of the game, Mixon's production trailed off. It took 17 carries for Mixon to hit 50 yards, which isn't the efficiency Cincinnati's coaching staff wants for its rushing attack. In the fourth quarter, Mixon was stuffed on third-and-goal at Miami's 1-yard line.

QB breakdown: Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow didn't have one of his better showings against Miami, and the proof is in the NFL Next Gen Stats. Excluding throws behind the line of scrimmage, Burrow completed his first 10 passes of 10 or fewer