Shortly after the 2025 NFL schedule was released, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had a bone to pick with the schedule-makers. Burrow called out the NFL for making the Bengals travel to play the Baltimore Ravens in a primetime game for the fourth consecutive year.
At the time, Burrow said the trend wasn’t “ideal,” and lobbied for the Bengals to host one of those games in the 2026 NFL season.
If an early report is to be believed, Burrow got his way. The Bengals will reportedly host the Ravens on “Thursday Night Football” in Week 17, per Jordan Schultz.
Sources: The #Bengals will host the #Ravens on Thursday Night Football in Week 17 on New Year’s Eve.
For four straight years, the Bengals have played the Ravens in Baltimore in primetime. This year, the flip is happening. 🐅😈 pic.twitter.com/C96oVIqU2L
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) May 14, 2026
Perhaps fans should have seen the change coming. When asked about Burrow’s criticism last May, NFL vice president of broadcast planning and scheduling Mike North said Burrow made a “fair” point and the league would likely “have to adjust at some point,” per the Bengals’ website.
“It’s fair. It’s not a one-or-two years sort of a league where you fix every problem every other year or every two years,” North says. “Once you start getting to the same thing three years in a row, four, or five years in a row, whether it’s a short week Thursday on the road or opening on the road.
“When trends like that emerge, we probably have to adjust at some point.”
In that same interview, North said most fans aren’t happy with their team’s schedule once it’s fully announced.
Burrow may have had a good reason to publicize that trend, as the Bengals went 1-3 in those primetime contests. Cincinnati did manage to win that game in 2025 — which occurred on Thanksgiving — but lost its previous three primetime games vs. the Ravens.
While some fans might express anger that Burrow seemingly influenced the NFL schedule-makers, that is only partially true. As North laid out last May, the NFL tries to avoid trends that span multiple seasons. It was likely that, and not Burrow’s public complaints, that resulted in the league reportedly giving the Bengals a primetime game against the Ravens this season.