The league doesn’t seem to think that people care about the Bengals.
For the second time this season, the NFL has flexed the Cincinnati Bengals out of a primetime spot.
First, the league moved up the kickoff time for Cincinnati’s Week 8 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles, presumably because it thought that the game between the Bears and Commanders was a more attractive option. That game between Cincinnati and Philadelphia was originally scheduled to begin at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 27 as one of the marquee games for the day’s second slate of games. But, the game was switched to a 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff.
Bengals vs. Browns flexed out of Thursday Night Football in Week 16
This time around, Cincinnati’s Week 16 matchup with the Cleveland Browns, originally scheduled for Thursday Night Football on Dec. 19, has been moved to Sunday, Dec. 22. The game will kickoff at 1:00 p.m. ET.
The matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos will replace the battle between the Browns and Bengals on Thursday night, likely because of the potential playoff implications in that game compared to the one between Ohio’s two teams.
Interestingly enough, this will be the first Thursday Night Football game that has ever been flexed after the league officially introduced flexible scheduling for TNF last year. Only games scheduled to take place between Weeks 13-17 can be considered for Thursday flexing, and only a total of two TNF games can be flexed all season.
The league considered several factors when deciding to move the game between the Bengals and Browns to Sunday, including broadcast rules, competitive advantages related to rest and moving games on a holiday, per CBS Sports.
In all, it will be the third time this season that Cincinnati has had the start time of a game altered, as the league flexed the Bengals into a primetime spot against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football in Week 11. That game was originally slated for an afternoon kickoff.
The game between the Bengals and Browns will be the second meeting between the teams during the current campaign, as Cincinnati bested Cleveland 21-14 back in Week 7.
