Joe Burrow throws shade at NFL schedule-makers over one frustrating Bengals trend

The 2025 NFL regular season schedule has been released and Cincinnati Bengals fans couldn't help but notice one frustrating reoccurring theme. For the fourth straight year, the Bengals will head to Baltimore for a primetime game, which annoyed Joe Burrow.

When speaking to the media recently, Burrow made sure to point out that his team is now headed to Baltimore for a primetime game for four straight years. He begged the schedule-makers to change that next year.

“You know, playing in Baltimore for the fourth straight primetime year isn’t ideal. Maybe we can get one of those in Cincinnati next year … please.”

Joe Burrow sounds off on NFL scheduling and it’s not hard to see why

This streak started in 2022 when the Bengals, fresh off a Super Bowl appearance the previous February, headed to Baltimore for a Sunday Night Football match-up in Week 5. They lost that game 19 to 17 and dropped to 2-3.

In 2023, the Bengals played on Thursday Night Football in Baltimore about midway through the year. Bengals fans will remember this game as the one where Burrow injured his wrist and went on to miss the rest of the season. Cincinnati lost that game 34 to 20.

Last year marked the second straight year that the Bengals traveled to Baltimore for Thursday Night Football and third straight year they played there in primetime. That was the barn burner that saw both teams score over 30 points but the Ravens walked away with a 35-34 win.

Now, we enter the fourth straight year of the Bengals having to play on the Ravens' turf in primetime and Burrow has a right to be frustrated. Playing in primetime is an honor in the NFL because it means the league thinks your team is worth watching but doing so on the road is a major disadvantage, especially when it's a Thursday night game. That's a quick turnaround from a Sunday game to then having to hit the road and play a game four days later.

It's not a coincidence that Cincinnati has lost all three road primetime games to Baltimore. Being the road team for a primetime game is tough and that's why it's unfair that the Ravens continue to get that edge in these primetime match-ups.

Let's hope that Burrow's complaints are heard loud and clear next year and the Bengals finally get a home primetime match-up against the Ravens next year.