Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson throws a go-ahead touchdown pass to tight end Mark Andrews. Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

How Ravens Landed Home Thanksgiving Game

Originally posted on Baltimore Ravens on SI
By Jon Alfano | Last updated May 18, 2025 7:00 AM ET

After playing on Christmas in each of the past two seasons, the Baltimore Ravens will play on a different holiday in 2025.

In Week 13, the Ravens will play host to the Cincinnati Bengals to close out a Thanksgiving triple-header. This is the first time the Ravens have played on Thankgiving since 2013 (they were scheduled to do so in 2020, but that game was postponed due to a COVID outbreak in the organization), and the best part is that they'll get to play at home, unlike their prior Christmas games.

There's one thing about this game that fans might notice, though. At least, those in Cincinnati certainly did.

This will now mark the fourth-consecutive year that the Ravens have hosted the Bengals in primetime, and the third-staight year that they've done so on a Thursday night. In contrast, each of the past four meetings in Cincinnati have taken place at 1 p.m. ET, which has led to many Bengals fans not being happy about the imbalance.

According to NFL VP of Broadcast Planning Mike North, however, this game would've ideally been in Cincinnati, but the Ravens' road "Thursday Night Football" game against the Miami Dolphins a month earlier convinced them to flip it to Baltimore.

"It's time... they're due....

..Go to Baltimore and ruin their Thanksgiving."

Schedule-maker Mike North on THE BENGALS PLAYING IN BALTIMORE .. AGAIN.#WhoDey #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/afqcHwKu0x
— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) May 15, 2025

"Yeah, wave a magic wand. We would have played Ravens-Bengals in Cincinnati on a Thursday night. It's time," North said on the "Up & Adams Show." "Those are the kind of things that down the stretch, could you just tinker with and what's the impact? With the Ravens having a road Thursday game in Miami on Amazon, you couldn't then have a second road Thursday.

"So it ended up with Baltimore vs Cincy, yes in Baltimore one more year. I'm sure Bengals fans are disappointed, but like I heard you say, you know, go to Baltimore and ruin their Thanksgiving. Nothing better."

Admittedly, it is kind of a strange explanation. The NFL seems to have an aversion to having teams play multiple road Thursday night games in the same season, but the Dallas Cowboys play three of their NFL-record four Thursday games this season on the road. Two of those contests come in a four-week span, as they play the Detroit Lions in Week 14 and the Washington Commanders on Christmas in Week 17.

Maybe the logic there is that only one of the Cowboys' Thursday games is on Amazon Prime Video's "Thursday Night Football," but that's just an educated guess. If that is the case, though, then it would also apply to the Ravens, as the Thanksgiving game is on NBC and not Prime Video.

When the 2026 schedule comes around, don't be surprised if the Bengals get the primetime home game between the two teams as a bit of a makeup.

This article first appeared on Baltimore Ravens on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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