Bengals become first team in NFL history hit with this brutal scheduling quirk after being flexed in Week 18

The Cincinnati Bengals will be making NFL history this week when they take the field on Saturday in Pittsburgh and it’s not necessarily the kind of history that they would prefer to be making. 

The NFL’s decision to flex the Bengals into the Saturday night game in Week 18 means that Cincinnati will now become the first team in league history to play five prime-time ROAD games in the same regular season. 

Bengals coach Zac Taylor doesn’t seem too concerned with the scheduling setback. 

“We know where we’re playing, we know who we’re playing, just tell us the time we’re playing,” Taylor told Fox 19. “Our guys will be ready for it.”

Over the past 10 years, only 10 teams have even had to deal with FOUR prime-time road games in a single season and none of those teams have gone 4-0. Those 10 teams have a collective record of 18-22 and that includes the 2023 Eagles and 2023 Bills, who both went 2-2 in four road prime-time games last season. 

When the schedule came out in May, the Bengals were only slated to play three prime-time road games, but that number went up to four in Week 11 when their game against the Chargers got flexed to Sunday night. 

At that point, the Bengals tied the record for most road prime-time games, but now, they’ll be hitting the road again for a prime-time game when they play the Steelers in Pittsburgh at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN/ABC. The Bengals game in Pittsburgh is one of just two prime-time games in Week 18 (Vikings at Lions on Sunday night is the other one). 

Cincinnati has historically played extremely poorly in road prime-time games. From 2000 to 2023, the Bengals played in a total of 25 road prime-time games and they went 2-23, including 1-5 under Taylor. However, things have slightly turned around this year. The Bengals have played four road prime-time games heading into Week 18 and they’ve gone 2-2 in those games, marking the first time in…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/bengals-become-first-team-in-nfl-history-hit-with-this-brutal-scheduling-quirk-after-being-flexed-in-week-18/

Author : John Breech

Publish date : 2025-01-02 16:14:00

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