Not long ago, Dolphins – Bengals games had that palpable energy of a public library. The thrill of an amateur bowling event. The allure of a day at the dentist’s office. Well, maybe not that bad, but these teams, throughout the past decade, have had their share of clunker seasons.

But as it stands, through four weeks of the 2012 season, both franchises and fan bases have legitimate reasons to be excited. Heck, the Bengals made the playoffs last year (third time since 1990) and have one of the great young QB/WR duos in Andy Dalton and A.J. Green. Miami thinks it may have its quarterback of the future, too, in Ryan Tannehill, and the Dolphins’ defense is playing as well as any team not in San Fran or Houston.

Long story short, Sunday’s showdown means a whole lot to both teams. The Bengals (3-1) are thinking division championship and playoffs, and the Dolphins (1-3), two plays from also being 3-1, are eager to prove their legitimacy as an up-and-coming football team. The Dolphins also know that 1-4 is an NFL death sentence.

I have a feeling this is going to be a close ballgame, and I’ll give my score prediction at the end of the page, but let’s take a look at five key matchups in Sunday’s Dolphins – Bengal game:

Sean Smith (CB) vs. A.J. Green (WR)

Although Smith (fourth year) has been in the league twice as long as Green now, it’s the latter who’s garnered the most national hype and attention. At 6’4” 207 lbs., A.J. Green is long, fast, and explosive and precise as a route runner. His rookie year stats were outrageous, 65 rec., 1,057 yds, 7TD (15G), and he’s coming off back-to-back 100-yards-and-a-touchdown games. Last week Sean Smith saved a family of 12 from a burning building while simultaneously putting out the fire. OK, not really, but he did have two interceptions and held Larry Fitzgerald to 8 rec., 64 yds, 1TD. Smith, a freakish-for-his-position 6’3” 218 lbs., is currently graded as the 23rd-best CB in the league, according to ProFootballFocus (PFF), and is the closest thing the Dolphins have to a shutdown defensive back.

This matchup may very well decide the outcome of the game, as Cincinnati will not be able to run the ball on Miami. If Green and QB Andy Dalton can hook up like they have the past two games, 17-year-olds-at-prom style, the Bengals will notch the W.

Edge: A.J. Green.

Mike Pouncey (C) vs. Geno Atkins (DT)

This is one of those old-school battles that would’ve had John Facenda, aka. the classic football voice, bellowing over slow-mo clips of dirt-churning cleats, bloodily wrapped club hands and shadowed faces that you’d swear eat children for breakfast with a helpful side of live kitten. (Carried away? Maybe. By the way, author’s note: I looked up to see if John Facenda was still alive? Died in 1984. Oops.)

Pouncey, the highest-drafted center ever, is currently the highest-graded center in all of football, according to PFF. He’ll have his club hands full with Geno Atkins, PFF’s #1 DT in the NFL. And to add a little drama, both these guys played high school ball in Florida (Lakeland / St. Thomas Aquinas) and college ball in the SEC (Florida / Georgia). So what happens Sunday when the unstoppable force meets the unmovable object? A competitive game of professional tackle football, that’s what.

Edge: Everyone not in the way of these behemoths.

Ryan “Sho’nuff” Tannehill (QB) vs. Andy “The Red Rifle” Dalton (QB)

People say that quarterbacks don’t really battle each other because they’re not on the field at the same time, and they’re really playing against opposing defenses. So Brady isn’t thinking about how badly he wants to beat Peyton this Sunday? Please.

What we have here, folks, is a genuine preview of the new guard. Andy Dalton made the Pro Bowl last year as a second-round-pick rookie and led the Bengals, formerly of Bungles notoriety, to the playoffs. Tannehill has a whopping four career starts in the NFL, yet already has the Dolphins fan base in a fervor not seen since wife Lauren Tannehill’s first appearance on HBO’s Hard Knocks. On an equally serious note, “Sho’nuff” has looked the part in his first four starts, unafraid to take hits, wielding a mini-howitzer arm and looking unphased by the usual rookie-QB mistakes. With less than 20 starts as a QB in college, it is fair to say that Tannehill’s ceiling is about as high as any in the league right now.

Comparing the two: Dalton has more weapons, Tannehill has the better nickname, Dalton has the experience, Tannehill has the hotter… city… to… practice?

Edge: Dalton.

Brian Hartline (WR) vs. Leon Hall (CB)

If you’ve been watching the Dolphins the past three years, you’ve noticed Brian Hartline’s terrific hands and expert ability at “dotting the ‘i’s”. If you haven’t been watching, you probably just learned his name last weekend, when Hartline exploded for a career-high 253 yards, taking the NFL lead in receiving yards in the process. Dolphins fans have always known Hartline was fast and capable of catching the ball, but his ability to separate from defenders, his timing with Tannehill and his hideous goatee/”pornstache” combo have all recently come to light.

Leon Hall is quickly climbing the ranks of cornerbacks you should know but probably don’t because they play on bad teams. Hall has 20 career interceptions in 6 1/4 seasons of work and was an All-Pro in 2009. The guy also knows how to tackle, racking up 173 tackles in his first three years in the league. Hall hurt his achilles tendon last year and missed all but nine games. He started the first two games of this season, sat the next two, but is expected to play Sunday.

Harline’s going to be amped up Sunday, coming off the best game of his career and playing in his home state of Ohio. But Hall is a no-nonsense player who I’m sure enjoys the challenge of shutting down the opponent’s best WR. Still, I have a sneaking suspicion Hall is ill-equipped to handle the quality of Hartline’s pornstache.

Edge: Hartline by a filthy whisker.

Cameron Wake (DE) vs. Andrew Whitworth (LT)/Andre Smith (RT)

The Dolphins have one certifiable pass-rush weapon, Cameron Wake. It’s a good thing for Miami that, now in his fourth season, he’s graded by PFF as the best defensive end in football. Since coming to Miami from the CFL, where they play ice-football, he’s piled up 32.5 sacks, including 4.5 this year. Wake, a two-time CFL MVP, is known in Miami for his physical play at the line of scrimmage, his relentless motor and his propensity for wearing, as receiver Brian Harline calls them, “smedium” shirts.

Andre Smith, the Bengals’ starting right tackle, was an all-everything offensive lineman at Alabama but has struggled mightily with injury since being selected 6th overall in the 2009 draft. Now a quarter of the way through his fourth year, he’s played just 31 games and has lost the position his was originally drafted for, left tackle, to 6’7” 330 lb. seventh-year pro Andrew Whitworth. Whitworth, in the words of Marianne Moore, describing someone else, “is a sober fellow and does his duty.”

Smith and Whitworth will have their hands full with Wake, who has, reportedly, been feasting on gingerbread cookies for several days now in anticipation of going after Bengals QB Andy Dalton. If Wake can occupy Cincy’s two tackles enough throughout the afternoon to allow Miami’s other DEs, Jared Odrick and that scrub from UM, to pressure Dalton, the Dolphins will have a much easier time defending the Bengals’ potent passing attack.

Edge: Smedium. I mean, Wake.

Ben’s bold score prediction: Miami 23 – Cincinnati 21

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