Bengals Have No Defense Against Marino, 37-13 : AFC: Dolphin quarterback passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns in a victory over Cincinnati.

Dan Marino vs. the NFL’s worst pass defense was no contest.

Marino passed for 281 yards and three touchdowns Monday night, helping the Miami Dolphins move closer to a playoff berth by beating the Cincinnati Bengals, 37-13.

Miami (8-6) won for the fifth time in six games and can clinch an AFC wild-card playoff berth next Sunday if it wins at San Diego and the New York Jets lose to New England. The Jets play at Miami Dec. 22.

“We have our shot,” Marino said. “We just need to take care of business.”

Cincinnati fell to 2-12, tying the team record for losses set in 1978 and tied 1979.

The Bengals were allowing 260 yards passing per game, last in the NFL, and Marino took full advantage.

“They were playing a lot of man coverage, so we took advantage of that, especially on their corners,” Marino said. “We have the two best guys in the league in one-on-one coverage.”

With scoring passes of 43 yards to Mark Duper and 18 and 16 yards to Mark Clayton, Marino reached 20 touchdown passes for an NFL-record ninth season. He also moved into fifth place on the NFL’s career yardage list.

Marino, who completed 24 of 33 passes, has been instrumental in Miami’s recent surge. He threw nine touchdown passes in the first nine games and has 11 in the past five.

Duper caught seven passes for 134 yards. The Dolphins’ point total was their highest since 1988.

The Bengals closed to 20-13 early in the fourth quarter on a one-yard run by Ickey Woods. But Miami answered with two touchdowns in 87 seconds to clinch the victory.

Mark Higgs capped a 65-yard drive with a three-yard scoring run, and then two plays later, teammate Louis Oliver recovered a fumble by Harold Green at the Cincinnati 17-yard line. On second down, Marino combined with Clayton for their second score of the night with 8:29 remaining.

Miami’s Pete Stoyanovich kicked three field goals, including a 50-yarder that was good even though he lost his footing and landed on his rear after kicking the ball.

“I was very pleased with the way this one went,” Miami Coach Don Shula said, “because when we had to have it in the fourth quarter and they looked like they were back into the game and playing well, we came up with the plays.”

Before the game, offensive tackle Anthony Munoz was placed on injured reserve by the Bengals, meaning he will miss the rest of the season. Munoz sustained a dislocated left elbow on Dec. 1 against the New York Giants.