Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals stretches prior to an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills at Paycor Stadium on January 2, 2023
Joe Burrow.
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Joe Burrow is speaking out about this year's schedule, and the NFL is listening
The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback has a beef about this year's game against the Ravens
The Bengals will travel to Baltimore for the fourth consecutive year
Joe Burrow and the NFL are on the same page when it comes to scheduling snafus.
The Cincinnati quarterback was recently outspoken about his team’s upcoming 2025 schedule — which has the Bengals visiting the Ravens once again, this time on Thanksgiving night.
"Playing in Baltimore for the fourth straight prime-time year isn't ideal," Burrow, 28, said last week, according to ESPN. "Maybe we can get one of those in Cincinnati next year. Please."
However, the league is listening.
"It's fair,” Mike North, the NFL's vice president of broadcast planning and scheduling, told the Bengals’ website about Burrows’ feedback. “Once you start getting to the same thing three years in a row, four, or five years in a row, whether it's a short week Thursday on the road or opening on the road."
He added, "When trends like that emerge, we probably have to adjust at some point."
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For the Bengals, the Ravens matchup has been a tough one: Cincinnati has lost each of the past three games, including last year’s nail-biter, 35-34.
Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals stretches prior to the AFC Championship NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 29, 2023
Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals stretches prior to the AFC Championship NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on January 29, 2023
For North, making the schedule is not a fine art — and he admits that.
"It just ended up as we got down the stretch here, that this was our best schedule, and fully acknowledging that, I'm sure the Bengals fans are a little surprised and probably a little disappointed," he said. "Which puts them in the same category as all 31 other teams. Everybody is just a little disappointed in the schedule makers."
At least one person in the mix found a bright side to the matchup.
"Playing on Thanksgiving night in a stand-alone game with the whole world watching, sitting on their couch, is really exciting," Bengals coach Zac Taylor said, according to NFL.com. "It's why you're in this business.”
And North also has a rejoinder for this year’s face-off.
“I’m sure Bengals fans would have preferred it in Cincinnati, but it should be fun for you guys to ruin Baltimore’s Thanksgiving,” he said.