CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Bengals' 2025 schedule was released along with the rest of the NFL slate on Wednesday.
For yet another year, the Bengals will have a prime time road game against the Baltimore Ravens. The two teams have won the AFC North in each of the past four seasons, with Baltimore's division titles in the two most recent. Cincinnati will be looking to keep the Ravens from becoming the first team in division history to win the AFC North three years in a row.
Quarterback Joe Burrow and Cincinnati remain a national staple. The Bengals have four prime-time games, including a Week 4 match up against quarterback Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.
Here's what's in store for the Bengals:
Bengals 2025 regular-season schedule
Week 1: Sept. 7 at Cleveland Browns
Week 2: Sept. 14 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 3: Sept. 21 at Minnesota Vikings
Week 4: Sept. 29 at Denver Broncos (Monday Night Football)
Week 5: Oct. 5 vs. Detroit Lions
Week 6: Oct. 12 at Green Bay Packers
Week 7: Oct. 16 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (TNF)
Week 8: Oct. 26 vs. New York Jets
Week 9: Nov. 2 vs. Chicago Bears
Bye
Week 11: Nov. 16 at Steelers
Week 12: Nov. 23 vs. New England Patriots
Week 13: Nov. 27 at Baltimore Ravens (TNF)
Week 14: Dec. 7 at Buffalo Bills
Week 15: Dec. 14 vs. Ravens
Week 16: Dec. 21 at Miami Dolphins (SNF)
Week 17: vs. Arizona Cardinals
Week 18: vs. Browns
*Date for Weeks 17 and 18 are to be determined
Strength of schedule: The Bengals' schedule is the 14th-hardest in the league (opponents had a 0.509 winning percentage in 2024).
Over/Under: 10.5 wins
Biggest takeaway
Not that the schedule needed to confirm this, but it's playoffs or bust for Cincinnati in 2025. After missing the postseason in two straight years, Cincinnati has a favorable schedule to end that drought. If the Bengals can reverse a trend of slow starts at the beginning of the season, Cincinnati should be able to rack up several wins and be positioned near the top of the standings when the Week 10 bye rolls around. With Joe Burrow and star receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins under contract for years to come, Cincinnati must make the most of this strength of schedule and prove that it still belongs in the championship conversation.
Circle this date
Week 13 against the Ravens. Yet again, Cincinnati will play in Baltimore late in the season. In fact, it's the fourth straight season the AFC North rivals will have a prime-time matchup in Baltimore. Cincinnati has yet to win any of those. If the Bengals want to keep Baltimore from winning the division for the third straight year, picking up a win at M&T Bank will go a long way toward that.
Key stretch
Weeks 13 through 16 will end up making or breaking Cincinnati's season. Starting with that Thursday night game against the Ravens, the Bengals will have two prime time road games (the other is in Miami on Week 16). Squeezed between those contests is a road game against the Bills (in December, no less) and then a matchup against the Ravens for the second time in three weeks. If the Bengals come out of that stretch in good shape, Cincinnati could be a team with true championship aspirations.
Bold prediction
Cincinnati will win two out of three games in the "Killer B's" portion of the schedule. The Bengals have historically matched up well against quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills. Having a few extra days of rest and then a home matchup against Baltimore should give the Bengals the edge to win at least two games in the three-game stint that features two Ravens contests and a road game in Buffalo.
How will the opening weeks of the schedule impact Cincinnati's slow starts?
Cincinnati has been famously terrible in the opening weeks of the season under coach Zac Taylor. The lone win during that span was in Week 1 of the 2021 season, an overtime victory against the Vikings that could have easily been a loss. This year, the Bengals should have zero issues with a scuttling Browns franchise and a Jaguars team under first-year coach Liam Coen. If Cincinnati can't go 2-0 here, there will be massive questions about the future of this franchise.