CINCINNATI – The NFL will release the 2025 schedule in less than two weeks after announcing the date as May 14 during last weekend’s draft.
But there are a couple of things we already know about the Cincinnati Bengals schedule.
First, barring a Week 1 Monday night game, they will open on the road due to the fact the Reds are playing at home on Sunday, Sept. 7.
The Reds also are home Sunday, Sept. 21, which means a road game in Week 3 also is likely. The Reds also are home the Thursday of Week 3, so a Monday night game would be the only chance for them to be at home.
But they have had Week 3 Monday night games in each of the last two seasons (2023 against the Rams and 2024 against the Commanders).
Most likely, the Bengals are looking at a road-home-road-home opening four games of the season.
We also know there will be a lot of primetime games.
Mike North, the NFL's vice president of broadcasting planning and scheduling, made that clear in an interview with bengals.com during the owners meetings in West Palm Beach, Fla.
“There are teams that are going to have to probably play their way into prime time, and there are others that have earned it over the course of the last few years,” North said. “I put the Bengals squarely in that category, and certainly retaining your stars is one way to ensure continued television exposure in this league.”
The Bengals played six primetime games in 2024, four in 2023 and three in 2022 and one in 2021.
When it comes to primetime games, the Bengals have a legitimate beef with the league.
The issue isn’t the volume. It’s the location.
Last year the Bengals became the first team in NFL history to play five primetime road games.
Of the 14 primetime games since 2021, five have been against division opponents.
And all five have been on the road.
That’s the most lopsided split in the league.
The Ravens, on the other hand, have had all five of their divisional primetime games at home.
You can bet the Bengals have made the league aware of this disparity, so it would be stunning if they don’t have at least one divisional primetime game at Paycor this season. And the Ravens have to be considered the favorite to be the opponent.
Based on North’s comments, the Bengals should expect to be in primetime at least five times in 2025.
Could one of them be on Thanksgiving or Christmas?
Quarterback Joe Burrow endorsed that idea last year on the day before Thanksgiving, saying it “would be cool” to play on one of those holidays.
If the Bengals play on Thanksgiving this year, it will have to be in primetime as their game against the Lions will be in Cincinnati and they don’t play the Cowboys.
The Thanksgiving primetime game doesn’t have a tie in to a specific team, so all options are on the table.
And the Bengals haven’t played on Thanksgiving since 2010.
Only seven teams have longer droughts: Jaguars (never), Browns (1989), Buccaneers (2006), Chiefs (2006), Cardinals (2008), Titans (2008) and Broncos (2009)
Four of those teams have a chance to play in the early afternoon or late afternoon windows on Thanksgiving.
The Browns and Buccaneers have road games against the Lions.
The Chiefs and Cardinals have road games against the Cowboys.
The Bengals play the Broncos this year in Denver, so that could be an option for the primetime window, checking off two franchises with the longest Thanksgiving droughts.
The NFL already has announced it will play three games on Christmas, which this year falls on a Thursday.
Each AFC North Team has appeared on Christmas in the last nine years.
Here is the full list of Christmas games since 2016:
2024: Chiefs at Steelers
2024: Ravens at Texans
2023: Raiders at Chiefs
2023: Giants at Eagles
2023: Ravens at 49ers
2022: Packers at Dolphins
2022: Broncos at Rams
2022: Buccaneers at Cardinals
2021: Browns at Packers
2021: Colts at Cardinals
2020: Vikings at Saints
2017: Steelers at Texans
2017: Raiders at Eagles
2016: Broncos at Chiefs
2016: Ravens at Steelers
