That’s one less primetime game for the Bengals.
It was announced on Friday the Cincinnati Bengals’ Week 16 game against the Cleveland Browns will no longer be played on Thursday Night Football, but will instead be played on Sunday, December 2 at 1 PM, and will be aired on FOX. Moving into the open primetime slot will be an AFC West matchup between the Denver Broncos and the Chargers in LA.
The move shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The Bengals are 4-7 as they head into their Week-12 bye, and the Browns are 3-8. On the other hand, the Broncos are 6-5 and the Chargers are 7-3, and their matchup has playoff implications.
It’s not impossible for the Bengals to sneak into the postseason as a wildcard team, but they’d need to be close to perfect from Week 13 on to pull it off, and that includes beating the Steelers twice.
As of this moment, it’s clear the NFL believes the Chargers and Broncos will have something to fight for in Week 16, while the Bengals and Browns will not.
The first Thursday night flex: The Week 16 Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers game will move to Thursday Night Football on Prime Video while the Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals matchup will be played Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 22, 2024
