Bengals vs. Dolphins odds, spread, pick: Tua Tagovailoa or Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB for Miami? Decision on Sunday

When the NFL schedule was released in May, all fans circled Sunday, Dec. 6, because Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals were to visit Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins in a matchup of the first two quarterbacks taken in this year's draft. Alas, Burrow will not be playing Sunday because he's out for the season, and whether Tua will play may not be decided until pre-game warmups. The Fins are 11.5-point favorites on the William Hill Sportsbook NFL odds.

The Bengals took Burrow at No. 1 overall in April and that was a no-brainer after his record-setting and Heisman Trophy-winning season at LSU in 2019 – which included a shootout win over Tua's Alabama Crimson Tide. Burrow was having a terrific rookie season before going down with a serious knee injury in Week 11.

Tagovailoa had been the consensus top QB prospect entering the 2019 college football season but suffered a serious hip injury late in the year that hurt his stock – Miami was thrilled Tagovailoa was there at No. 5 overall. Burrow and Tua had been the immediate betting favorites to win 2020 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, but that will now surely go to Chargers QB Justin Herbert, the No. 6 overall pick.

Tua, who is 3-1 as an NFL starter despite some rather pedestrian individual numbers, was inactive for last Sunday's game at the Jets with a thumb injury that seemed to pop out of nowhere. The lefty has been limited in both practices so far this week, and coach Brian Flores has said a decision on whether it's Tua or veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick vs. the Bengals will be a Sunday call.

Here was Flores this week on if Tagovailoa's thumb is affecting his throwing: "It's pretty well known that he's dealing with something. Any time you're not at full strength, there's some sort of impact."

Sitting No. 6 in the AFC, Miami (7-4) can ill afford a loss to Cincinnati (2-8-1) in the Fins' playoff chase. There's also the fact the Bengals are winless in their past 18 road games (one tie).

This will be only the seventh time since 2000 and first since 2015 that Miami will be a double-digit favorite. The Dolphins are 1-5 ATS in the previous six. 

So which teams should you back in Week 13 of the 2020 NFL season? And which Super Bowl contender goes down HARD? ... Join SportsLine right now to see who wins and covers every single NFL game this week, plus get the exact final score, all from the acclaimed model that has returned over $7,800 on its top-rated NFL picks!