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Buried beneath the circus of the league releasing its 2012 regular season schedule on Tuesday, the Cincinnati Bengals also announced their 2012 preseason schedule. The order of opponents were already determined earlier this month. Now we have dates, kickoff times and presumed channels in which the games will be aired.
| Date | Opponent | Time | Network |
| Friday, August 10 | New York Jets | 7:30 PM | Local 12 |
| Thursday, August 16 | @ Atlanta Falcons | 8:00 PM | Fox |
| Thursday, August 23 | Green Bay Packers | 7:00 PM | Local 12 |
| Thursday, August 30 | @ Indianapolis Colts | 7:00 PM | Local 12 |
Cincinnati will play the Indianapolis Colts in the preseason finale for the tenth consecutive year, dating back to Marvin Lewis' inaugural season in 2003. The Bengals are 13-7 against the Colts during the preseason.
Generally called the dress rehearsal (at least the first half of the third preseason game), the Bengals benefit by hosting the Green Bay Packers because it will be the best test against one of the league's better teams -- and passing defense with a suspect secondary (as of right now at least).