NFL Season Starts[/b]
Exactly nine hours from the time this post went live, the Cincinnati Bengals and the other 31 teams will know where and when they will be playing their already announced opponents.
At 8 p.m. ET, the league will release its 2014 schedule, complete with kickoff times and pertinent television information for certain games. Based on their recent scheduling history and the general success they have had in the past three years in particular, it stands to reason the Bengals will be on Monday Night Football at least once this year, and will appear like the rest of the league on Thursday night football. A Sunday night game also is a strong possibility. The Bengals have played seven of those since 2002, including two in the past two seasons. Both of those games came against the Steelers. While on the subject of nationally-televised, primetime games, it's worth mentioning the Bengals have played in nine Sunday, Monday or Thursday night games since 2009. They are 2-7 in those contests. Among the wins was a Thursday night victory over the Eagles in 2012. The other came in the home-opening Monday night win against Pittsburgh last year. Like they did in 2012, the Bengals played games on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights last season.
Why are such games pertinent for the Bengals? Because part of the knock on the team overall but quarterback Andy Dalton in particular is that it doesn't play well under the glare of the league's brightest nationally-televised lights. Just look at the night-game record since 2009 for evidence. The fact the Bengals have gone 0-4 in playoff games since 2009 also is an indication they don't perform well on the big stage. Including preseason, the Bengals are scheduled to play a total of four prime-time games in 2014. The club visits Arizona on Aug. 24 in an NBC preseason contest. The only time the Bengals have had more than four prime-time games including preseason was in ’07, when there were five one in preseason and four in the regular season. Four is the club record for prime-time games in a regular season (home and road), set in 1990 and 2007. The Bengals will open the regular season on the road for the fifth straight year, visiting Baltimore at 1 p.m. ET on Sun., Sept. 7. It will be the third time since 2007 that Cincinnati has opened against the division rival Ravens.
Exactly nine hours from the time this post went live, the Cincinnati Bengals and the other 31 teams will know where and when they will be playing their already announced opponents.
Why are such games pertinent for the Bengals? Because part of the knock on the team overall but quarterback Andy Dalton in particular is that it doesn't play well under the glare of the league's brightest nationally-televised lights. Just look at the night-game record since 2009 for evidence. The fact the Bengals have gone 0-4 in playoff games since 2009 also is an indication they don't perform well on the big stage. Including preseason, the Bengals are scheduled to play a total of four prime-time games in 2014. The club visits Arizona on Aug. 24 in an NBC preseason contest. The only time the Bengals have had more than four prime-time games including preseason was in ’07, when there were five one in preseason and four in the regular season. Four is the club record for prime-time games in a regular season (home and road), set in 1990 and 2007. The Bengals will open the regular season on the road for the fifth straight year, visiting Baltimore at 1 p.m. ET on Sun., Sept. 7. It will be the third time since 2007 that Cincinnati has opened against the division rival Ravens.