CBS Sports Names Cincinnati Bengals Winner of 2025 NFL Schedule

 The Bengals are scheduled to play two Thursday Night Football games again this coming season for the second campaign in a row (scheduled out of their second one in 2024), but they still got named a CBS Sports winner from the 2025 NFL schedule release.

Tyler Sullivan's biggest reasoning has to do with a nice break in the sky. Cincinnati travels the fewest miles of any NFL team in 2025-26 (8,753).

"Cincinnati's playoff surge to end last season came up just short, but they are well positioned to get back into the postseason in 2025," Sullivan wrote. "From a travel standpoint, the Bengals have it made. The franchise will travel the fewest miles of any NFL team next season at 8,753 miles. They are the only team in the NFL to travel under 10,000 miles in 2025. For what it's worth, the Washington Commanders had the fewest miles traveled last year, and they found themselves in the NFC Championship. With that in mind, is a Bengals run to the AFC Championship imminent?!"

It helps buoy out a brutal stretch from Weeks 7-13 that includes the Bengals' bye week. The team plays six games in 42 days across that stretch, averaging just the normal seven days of rest even when factoring in the bye week.

The schedule gives and takes in the NFL as the gamemakers do their best to evenly distribute the 272 games played each regular season.