Another Thursday night is in the books as the Cincinnati Bengals took down the Miami Dolphins by way of a 22-7 victory. The excitement was lacking in this one. The only touchdown of the game came in the first quarter, and after that, it was a mixture of rugby and soccer. Mike Nugent nailed five field goals to help the Bengals improve to 3-1 on the young campaign. Below are the fantasy awards for the primetime game.
Week Four Thursday Night Fantasy Awards
MVP Award
This was a tossup between Nugent and A.J. Green, but you have to give the nod to Green. Green was on another level on Thursday night, hauling in ten receptions for 171 yards and a score. He ran routes well, made an incredible catch on the sideline, and made a diving grab over the middle. He also ran with a chip on his shoulder after each reception which us football fans and fantasy owners love to see. Green kept the chains moving all night and was an intricate part of the offense and fantasy teams.
Honorable Mention
This category is all about Mike Nugent. After all, he was the whole Bengals offense; actually he was the only offense on Thursday night for three quarters of the game. The Bengals continued their trend this week of having a hard time getting into the end zone, and Nugent didn’t hesitate to answer the call. You have to believe the Bengals offense will get it going sooner rather than later, and if they don’t then it’ll be the Nugent show the rest of the way. He is worth owning in all fantasy formats.
Defense of the Night
The classic cliché “defense wins championships” holds value in both real sports and fantasy, just ask anyone who owned the Broncos defense last year. In Thursday night’s matchup, the Bengals were already expecting a huge night, especially because their leader Vontaze Burfict returned to the gridiron from a suspension. Burfict was satisfactory in his return to the field, but his teammates were beyond that. The Bengals held Miami to just seven points and tacked on five sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception. Not a bad day (night) at the office for Cincy.
Casper Award
The Casper Award goes to a player who was poised to have a big game for fantasy teams, and then completely disappeared (like a ghost), leaving teams hanging. The lucky recipient of this week’s award goes to DaVante Parker. Parker has had solid outings over his past two weeks. In week two, he posted eight receptions for 108 yards, and last week he found the end zone. This week he posted a mediocre two catches for 20 yards, which doesn’t help fantasy teams at all. Right now, this whole Miami offense is too risky for me to touch. I would leave all Miami players on the bench until they prove they don’t need to be there.
Bottom Line
The Bengals were clearly the better team on Thursday night, yet both offenses struggled to find the end zone. Both quarterbacks showed moments of excellence, and Andy Dalton was four yards shy of another 300-yard game, but again the lack of touchdowns is hurting the whole Cincinnati offense. Again, I am not touching any Miami players on offense, aside from maybe Jarvis Landry, until they show me something to believe in.
