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The NFL has announced the preseason schedule for all 32 teams.
For the Cincinnati Bengals, it’s a familiar slate of teams they’ll square off with leading up to the regular season. As has annually been the case, Cincinnati will face mostly teams on the east coast to limit the travel fans and teams will have to do.
Week 1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Paul Brown Stadium, Friday, August 11, 7:30 p.m. ET
Week 2: Kansas City Chiefs at Paul Brown Stadium, Saturday, August 19, 7:00 p.m. ET
Week 3: at Washington, Sunday, August 27, 4:30 p.m. (FOX)
Week 4: at Indianapolis Colts, Thursday, August 31, 7:00 p.m. ET
In Week 1, the Bengals will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of the NFC South. The Bucs are a team on the rise after a surprising 9-7 record in 2016. They’ll be a great first-week test for a Bengals team looking to rebound from a surprisingly bad 2016 campaign. This game will come sometime between Aug. 10-14.
In Week 2, it will be the AFC West’s Kansas City Chiefs coming to Paul Brown Stadium. Kansas City is coming off back-to-back playoff trips and return much of that group in 2017, so they’ll be among the AFC playoff favorites again this season. This will be another great test for a Cincinnati squad looking to get back into the playoffs. This game will come sometime between Aug. 17-21.
In Week 3, the Bengals will hit the road to face Washington out of the NFC East. The two met up in London last season in a back-and-forth affair that went into overtime before both teams settled for a draw. This time, the two will clash on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 4:30 p.m. EST pm FOX.
And finally, the Bengals wrap up the preseason in Week 4 with their border battle vs the Indianapolis Colts out of the AFC South. The annual I-74 rivalry game will be played in Indianapolis this year. The Bengals and Colts have played the preseason finale every year throughout Marvin Lewis' tenure in Cincinnati, and this will be the 25th meeting in the last 26 years. This game will come on Aug. 31. No game time has been set.
The dates and times of the Tampa Bay and Kansas games have not been announced yet.
As for the regular season schedule, that's expected to be released within the next 1-2 weeks, so we'll soon know every game Cincinnati will play in this year. Here is a recap of the Bengals' 2017 opponents:
Home
Indianapolis Colts
Away
Pittsburgh Steelers
Baltimore Ravens
Cleveland Browns
The 2017 NFL preseason will officially begin on Aug. 3 with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, which features the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals. The league changed up the schedule for that weekend by moving the game to Thursday with the ceremony to follow on Saturday, Aug. 5.