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2015 NFL Schedule: Analyzing the Bengals Schedule

The NFL released the 2015 schedule and we're analyzing it. There are primetime games, of which none are against major division rivals (well, except for the Browns) and there are a few other things we've noticed.

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Four Primetime Games

The Bengals have four primetime games this year -- all of which occur during the final nine games of the regular season. There's a double-billing of Monday Night Football games this year against the Houston Texans (Week 10) and the Denver Broncos (Week 16). There are two sets of back-to-back primetime games as well:

Weeks 9-10 against the Browns and Texans (both at home)
Weeks 15-16 against the 49ers and Broncos (both away)

Regular Season Finale Familiarity

The Bengals will end the season against an AFC North opponent for the sixth straight season -- with it being the fifth time ('10, '11, '12, '13) during that span that it's against the Baltimore Ravens; the Steelers were Cincinnati's regular season finale in 2014. The Bengals are 2-2 against the Ravens in regular season finale games dating back to 2010 -- though most of those games didn't really have significant implications.

Three games in One Month

Between the Bengals Week 9 contest against the Cleveland Browns and their Monday Night game against the Houston Texans, eleven days will have passed without a bye week, which comes in Week 7, two weeks before the Browns game. After the Bengals Week 6 game in Buffalo, they'll have only played three games from Oct. 18 to Nov. 16.

No Primetime Games Against Major Rivals

The Bengals won't play any primetime games this season against the Steelers or Ravens -- a first since 2011 when the Bengals didn't have any primetime games scheduled. This is somewhat extraordinary -- of the last six times the Cincinnati Bengals played the Pittsburgh Steelers, four were in primetime. Cincinnati will play the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football, which could be viewed as a "major geographical rival" -- and lord knows they've been a pain in our collective gluttonous maximuses.

The Rematches

It's incredible that not only did the NFL stage a re-match against the Cleveland Browns and Denver Broncos in the same game -- Thursday Night and Monday Night respectively -- they did it roughly in the same timeframe.

The Browns beat the Bengals on Thursday Night Football last year on Nov. 6, 2014 -- they will play on Thursday Night Football again in 2015... on Nov. 5, 2015.

At the same time, the Bengals will play the Broncos on Monday Night Football in week 16 -- identical to last year's schedule. The only difference is that the game was played in Cincinnati last year -- this season, it's in Denver.

No Three-Game Stretches

The Bengals won't play any three game stretches on the road or at home. However, they'll host Seattle on Oct 18 and then won't play another home game until Nov. 5 (Browns).