Bengals' inexcusable primetime game disadvantage has a chance to be remedied deep in the 2025 season

The Cincinnati Bengals have four primetime games on their 2025 regular season schedule, and only one of them will be played under the lights at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati. The Pittsburgh Steelers will be the visitors for a "Thursday Night Football" showdown in Week 7.

A team with one of the best quarterbacks in the game, two star wide receivers, and nine home games on the docket only gets one night kickoff in front of its home crowd compared to three on the road. 

It's frustrating for Cincinnati and its fans, but it's not a completely hopeless situation. 

The Bengals set a record last year for the most road primetime games played in a season with five, but only three were on the original schedule. Their Week 11 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers and Week 18 season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers, both road games, were flexed to night kickoffs. 

Something similar could happen this year, but in the Bengals' favor.

Bengals' late season slate could grant them another home primetime game

The nature of Cincinnati's schedule is that it features more home games than away games. There's even a stretch of three consecutive tilts at Paycor Stadium from Weeks 7-9.  

The end of the season is nearly just as friendly.

Three of the Bengals' final four games are at home. The Baltimore Ravens come to town in Week 15, the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17, and the Cleveland Browns cap the season off in Week 18 in Cincinnati.

If the Bengals are in the playoff race like they've been the last several years, it's entirely possible at least one of these matchups becomes attractive enough for the league to flex the schedule. It's why it happened twice last year around the same time.

Ironically, the lone road game during this four-week stretch is already slated for primetime when the Bengals take on the Miami Dolphins on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 16. 

Would that stop the NFL's decision-makers from moving another Bengals game to SNF if playoff implications were strong enough? Probably not.