MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The Bengals' defense shut down the Dolphins' vaunted running game and then set it sights on rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers with four straight turnovers (one a fourth-and-one stop) to begin the second half in Sunday's 45-21 victory over Miami at Hard Rock Stadium.

Quarterback Joe Burrow's offense turned the four turnovers into four touchdowns, three of them for running back Chase Brown in a stunning third quarter that included the first career interceptions for rookie linebacker Barrett Carter and fifth-year cornerback Jalen Davis.

In leading the Bengals to their most points in a dozen years, Burrow sifted his second-best passer rating of his career at 146.5 on four touchdowns and 309 yards generated by 25 of 32 passing. And that was with 11:22 to go in the game, when he was relieved by Joe Flacco.

The turning point came on the first drive of the second half when Dolphins running back De'Von Achane's 31-yard screen pass on third-and four was negated by an offensive pass interference call. On the next play, Bengals safety Jordan Battle put his helmet on the ball after tight end Greg Dulicich caught a 10-yarder. The ball popped out and defensive end Myles Murphy recovered at the Dolphins' 34-yard line.

The offense delivered in six plays, capped by a Burrow flip to Chase Brown for a nine-yard touchdown pass that made it 24-14 less than six minutes into the half.

Brown caught it at the five-yard line and spun inside to leave Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks, the NFL's leading tackler, in the lurch on his way to scoring both through the air and ground in the same game for the third time this season.

The Bengals took a 17-14 lead late in the first half when Burrow engineered a one-minute touchdown drive, keeping it alive on third-and-10 from the Miami 38 when he escaped Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler and then flung it short across his body to tight end Drew Sample for a 27-yard gain.

Halfback Samaje Perine hammered home a four-yard touchdown run with 1:24 left in the half, and the Bengals' defense snuffed out any hope of Miami doubling up when they received the second-half kickoff.

NOTES

Milestone Day for Burrow

Burrow played in his 75th career regular-season game on Sunday, and treated fans to a vintage performance. He finished the day with 25 completions on 32 attempts for 309 yards and four touchdowns, good for the second-best passer rating in his career (146.5).

Among all players in NFL history through 75 career games, Burrow ranks first in completions (1,868), third in touchdown passes (152) and fifth in passing yards (20,269).

Burrow eclipsed 20,000 career passing yards on a 35-yard completion to Tee Higgins midway through the first quarter. He became the fifth-fastest player in NFL history to reach the 20K milestone, trailing only Patrick Mahomes (67 games), Matthew Stafford (71), Dan Marino (74) and Andrew Luck (74).

Burrow's second touchdown pass of the day, a 12-yarder to Chase Brown in the third quarter, was the 150th of his career. He is the third-fastest QB in league history to reach 150 touchdown passes, trailing only former Dolphins legend Dan Marino (62 games) and Mahomes (63).

Uno Hits 500

Chase recorded his 500th career reception late in the first quarter. Playing in his 76th regular-season game, he became the second-fastest player in NFL history to reach 500 catches, trailing only former Saints receiver Michael Thomas (69 games).

Chase also is the first player in league history with at least 500 catches and 50 receiving touchdowns in his first five seasons.

Chase is the sixth player in Bengals history to log 500 receptions. His career totals following Sunday's game are 507 receptions for 6,681 yards and 51 touchdowns.

Chase finished the afternoon with nine catches for 109 yards. It marked his seventh game this season with 100 or more receiving yards, which breaks a tie with A.J. Green (2013) for the most in a single season in Bengals history.

Ten for Tee

Higgins' acrobatic touchdown catch to open the scoring in the first quarter was his team-leading 10th receiving touchdown of the season. He became the third player in Bengals history with at least 10 touchdown catches in consecutive seasons, joining Carl Pickens (1994-96) and A.J. Green (2012-13).

Higgins' 10 touchdown grabs are tied for third in the NFL this season and match his career high from the 2024 campaign.

Three for Brown

Brown finished the day with 12 rushing attempts for 66 yards and a touchdown, along with four catches for 43 yards and two scores. His three total touchdowns were a career high, and it marked the first game of his career with two receiving touchdowns.

Each of Brown's three touchdowns came in the third quarter to help Cincinnati blow the game open. He is the second player in Bengals history to score three touchdowns in a single quarter, joining former halfback Joe Mixon, who had three in the second quarter of a win over Carolina in Week 9 of the 2022 campaign. Brown also is the first NFL player with three scores in a quarter since Mixon in that game.

Brown totaled 109 yards from scrimmage on Sunday, marking his seventh 100-yard scrimmage game of the season.

Battle, Murphy Team Up for First Takeaway

On Miami's opening possession of the second half, safety Jordan Battle knocked the ball loose from tight end Greg Dulcich, and Myles Murphy recovered the fumble to set up the offense at the Dolphins' 34-yard line.

The play marked Battle's second career forced fumble, with his previous one coming in Week 13 of this season at Baltimore. With two forced fumbles and four interceptions, he has contributed to six Bengals takeaways this season.

Murphy logged his first career fumble recovery on the play. He also posted five tackles in Sunday's game, including a tackle for loss on Miami's opening drive to force a punt in the first quarter.

Burrow, Brown Capitalize

Burrow and the offense took advantage of the short field with a six-play drive resulting in a nine-yard touchdown pass to Chase Brown. The score increased Cincinnati's lead to 24-14 early in the third quarter.

Defense Sets Up Brown Again

On the ensuing Dolphins possession following the Murphy recovery, cornerback Josh Newton deflected a pass on third down that fell into the hands of rookie linebacker Barrett Carter. Carter, who recorded his first career interception on the play, returned the pick 16 yards to the Miami 35-yard line.

Cincinnati's offense needed just two plays to capitalize on the turnover, as Brown had a 23-yard reception on an underneath pass from Burrow, then busted through the line for a 12-yard rushing touchdown. Sunday's game was the fourth in Brown's career in which he scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown.

Perine Punches In Go-Ahead TD

Samaje Perine found the end zone on a four-yard run late in the first half to give the Bengals a 17-14 lead at the break. It marked Perine's second touchdown of the season, with the first coming in Week 8 against the Jets.

Perine now has 11 rushing touchdowns in his career. He finished Sunday's game with 25 rushing yards on seven carries.

McPherson Passes Muhlmann

With a converted extra point attempt late in the first half, Evan McPherson improved his career points total to 550. He surpassed former kicker Horst Mulhmann (549) for the fifth-most points scored in Bengals history. McPherson finished the day with one field goal and six PATs, moving his current career total to 554.

McPherson now is 106 points shy of tying Doug Pelfrey (660) for fourth on the team's all-time scoring list.

Extra Points

• The Bengals' 45 points were their most in a game since Oct. 27, 2013, when they had 49 in a win over the New York Jets.
• The Bengals' defense has at least one takeaway in each of the past five games, dating to Week 12 against New England. Cincinnati has 11 total takeaways during that span, the most in the NFL.
• Tight end Mike Gesicki, who spent his first five NFL seasons (2018-22) with the Dolphins, caught three passes for 35 yards and a touchdown. His scoring catch was a 17-yarder in the fourth quarter.
• Ke'Shawn Williams, who was acquired on waivers earlier this week, made his Bengals debut and returned two kickoffs for 52 yards along with one punt for 26 yards.
• Defensive end Shemar Stewart made his first appearance since Week 9 on Sunday, after missing the previous five games due to a knee injury.

QUOTES

"There were a lot of questions about how these guys would respond. We saw how they responded all week. We knew how they would respond. To come down here and put together the performance they did, especially settling down at halftime and coming out and getting four straight turnovers -- three turnovers and a turnover-on-downs. The offense responded with four straight touchdowns. Special teams units did a great job controlling the field position the entire second half. Just really proud, but again not surprised by the response we had." - Head coach Zac Taylor, on how his team responded to last week's loss

"I think Chase is a huge weapon for us and does a great job with his explosiveness. He's a tremendous matchup in the pass game as well, which he probably doesn't get enough credit for. He's won a lot of those choice routes underneath. He caught a (corner route) for a touchdown today when he was matched up on a linebacker. Again, he's been a great weapon for us. I'm happy to have him." - Head coach Zac Taylor, on Chase Brown's performance today and his role in the offense

"We executed better, at the end of the day. Tee (Higgins) started it off with those two big plays early. That kind of set the tone for number one, how the day was going and number two, how they were going to play us. I think they had a plan, and then those two plays happened and then they had to change their plan. That's why Tee is who he is and why we value him so much. He just makes plays like that." - Quarterback Joe Burrow, on the offensive execution early in the game