Bengals to play four times in prime-time in 2015

Published Apr. 21, 2015 7:49 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

The Bengals will appear on national TV four times in 2015, including a second straight Thursday night home game against Cleveland, and host defending NFC champion Seattle in Week 5 it was revealed Tuesday when the NFL announced its schedule. All four of the prime time games are in the second half of the season as the Bengals will be attempting to reach the playoffs for a fifth straight year.

The Bengals will open the season on the road for the sixth straight year when they travel to Oakland on Sept. 13 to face the Raiders. It is just the third time the Bengals have opened a season on the West Coast. Their inaugural game in 1968 was a 29-13 loss at San Diego. They won at Seattle, 21-3, to begin the 1992 season.

San Diego will be the opponent on Sept. 20 when the Bengals play their home opener. They will have just one division game before their bye in Week 7 - Sept. 27 at Baltimore -€“ but finish up with five games within the AFC North in the last 10 games, including hosting the Ravens on Jan. 3 in the regular season finale.

This will be the fifth time in the last six years the Bengals and Ravens have been scheduled to play in Week 17; the Ravens won in Baltimore in 2010 and at Paul Brown Stadium in 2011, while the Bengals won at home in 2012 and 2013.

The Bengals come out of the bye with consecutive division games; at Pittsburgh on Nov. 1 and at home against the Browns on Thursday, Nov. 5. Cleveland beat the Bengals last year on a Thursday night, 24-3. This will be the first time since 2009 that the Bengals will play the Steelers on the road in December.

The second of Cincinnati's four prime-time games comes in Week 10 when the Bengals host Houston on Monday Night Football. It will be one of two Monday Night Football games for the Bengals. They will play at Denver on Dec. 28, one week after playing at San Francisco on a Sunday Night Football game. The Bengals beat Denver last season, 37-28, in a Week 16 MNF matchup that clinched their fourth consecutive postseason berth.

The Bengals went 10-5-1 last season and finished third in the AFC North, earning the sixth seed in the conference playoffs. They lost at Indianapolis, 26-10. They have a total of seven games against teams that reached the postseason in 2014; two each against Pittsburgh and Baltimore, a home game against Seattle on Oct. 11, and road games against Denver and Arizona (Nov. 22).

"I say every year that we already have known all our home and road opponents for the year, but the four national games do stick out," said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. "It's a compliment to our franchise, a challenge for the team, and exciting for our fans to have the two home night games in November. The other thing you look at as a coach is closing the season against Baltimore, when you expect there could be a lot at stake."

Cincinnati Bengals Schedule

share