Bad news for the Miami Dolphins could end up being good news for the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals need the Dolphins to lose to the New York Jets in Week 18 in order to keep their playoff hopes alive, and the Dolphins could be without their most important player.
Tua Tagovailoa's status for Week 18 matchup with Jets in question
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, who is as plugged in as anyone, star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa's status for the contest is in question due to a lingering hip injury. Tagovailoa missed Miami's Week 17 win over the Browns due to the injury, which Schefter indicated is worse than people think.
Cincinnati Bengals news: Mike Tomlin, Steelers don't plan to do Bengals any favors in critical Week 18 matchupMore
The Jets have been bad this season, to put it bluntly, so there's a good chance that the Dolphins would be able to pull out a win even if Tagovailoa is unable to play. After all, they just beat the Browns without him. But, his absence would certainly make the task tougher.
If Tagovailoa sits out, Tyler Huntley will likely serve as the starter again for Miami. Huntley threw for 225 yards and a touchdown against Cleveland in Week 17 while completing 84.6 percent of his passes.
Of course, it won't matter who plays quarterback for the Dolphins on Sunday if the Bengals don't take care of business against the Steelers on Saturday night. The Bengals will be immediately eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to Pittsburgh. If they win, they'll then need the Jets to beat the Dolphins and the Chiefs to beat the Broncos on Sunday.
The good news for Bengals fans is that they'll know by Saturday night whether or not they need to bother paying attention to the Sunday slate of games. After a slow start, the Bengals have at least made things interesting at the end of the season.
