Cincinnati Bengals: 3 quick takeaways from 2021 schedule

The Cincinnati Bengals‘ 2021 schedule is officially out. What should Bengals fans make of their 2021 slate and should they feel good about this schedule?

Bengals fans now know when the games on the 2021 schedule will be played and when they’ll be played. As we discovered earlier in the day on Wednesday, the Bengals host the Vikings to start the year and then play two road games in Chicago and Pittsburgh before heading home and finishing the month of September at home against the Jaguars.

Cincinnati Bengals 2021 Schedule Takeaway No. 1: No Monday night games

The Bengals not getting any Sunday night games isn’t surprising but they don’t even have a Monday night game on their 2021 schedule, which is a surprise. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase are electric and are going to light it up on the football field, so not putting Cincinnati in one Monday night game is a bit of a shaft for the Bengals.

Cincinnati Bengals 2021 Schedule Takeaway No. 2: Burrow vs Lawrence

Staying on the topic of primetime games, the Bengals have just one primetime game and it’s in Week 4 against the Jaguars on Thursday Night Football. This matchup pits the last two No. 1 overall picks against each other, as Burrow’s Bengals will square off against Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

It’s disappointing that this is the only primetime game on the Bengals’ schedule, as every team gets a Thursday night game. The NFL is clearly showing they don’t believe the Bengals will be a good team this year and didn’t trust putting them in many games under the lights.

Cincinnati Bengals 2021 Schedule Takeaway No. 3: Brutal final three games

The Bengals close out the year with home games against the Ravens and Chiefs before heading to Cleveland for the final game of the year. This is an incredibly tough slate of games for Cincinnati, as all three of these teams made the playoffs last season and are on a much better trajectory than that of the Bengals.

These final three games will definitely show us what this year’s Bengals are made of, as they get three of the best teams in the AFC in back-to-back-to-back weeks. Cincinnati has one of the toughest schedules in the league though so having this difficult of a stretch was to be expected. There aren’t any “easy” stretches on this schedule and that’s what happens when you’re a division with three teams who made the playoffs last year.