Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had two bones to pick about the 2025 schedule: (1) he wanted to play a game overseas; and (2) he didn’t want another night game near the Inner Harbor.
Burrow’s wish list came up empty. The Bengals don’t play in one of the seven international games, and the Bengals play a prime-time road game against the Ravens in Baltimore, again.
“Playing in Baltimore for the fourth straight year in prime time isn’t ideal,” Burrow said this week. “Maybe we can get one of those in Cincinnati. Please.”
It’s also the third straight year the Bengals visit the Ravens on a Thursday night, after playing on the prior Sunday.
NFL V.P. of broadcast planning & scheduling Mike North doesn’t take issue with the criticism.
“It’s fair,” North told Geoff Hobson of the team’s official website. “It’s not a one-or-two years sort of a league where you fix every problem every other year or every two years. Once you start getting to the same thing three years in a row, four, or five years in a row, whether it’s a short week Thursday on the road or opening on the road.”
North said that if he could have one game to change on the schedule, he’d “wave a magic wand” and remove the third straight short-week trip by the Bengals to Baltimore for a Thanksgiving night game.
North explained that the rivalry nevertheless required one of the games to be in primetime.
“I’m sure Bengals fans would have preferred it in Cincinnati, but it should be fun for you guys to ruin Baltimore’s Thanksgiving,” North said.
Baltimore has won four in a row against the Bengals, and three in a row against Cincinnati at home. The rematch comes only two weeks later, at 1:00 p.m. ET on the Sunday of Week 15.
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