The regular season has come to an end in the NFL and it sure was an interesting one for the Cincinnati Bengals. While the Bengals won their final game of the 2024 season and managed to finish with a 9-8 record, they had to have a lot of help to get into the playoffs and it didn't work out in their favor.
With the regular season in the books and the Bengals' season officially coming to an end, we officially know the opponents on the schedule in 2025. We might not know the order the Bengals will play these teams but we know who they'll be playing.
Schedules work like this: The Bengals will play everyone from their division twice, once at home and once on the road. The other 11 games on the schedule will be against a rotating AFC and NFC division and then the teams from the remaining AFC divisions and one rotating NFC division that place in the same spot in their divisions as the Bengals do in theirs.
For 2025, the Bengals will play the entire AFC East and NFC North. Because they finished third in the AFC North, they'll play the third-place finishers from the AFC South, AFC West, and NFC West next season.
Bengals 2025 home opponents
- Arizona Cardinals
- Baltimore Ravens
- Chicago Bears
- Cleveland Browns
- Detroit Lions
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- New England Patriots
- New York Jets
- Pittsburgh Steelers
Some intriguing opponents coming to Paycor Stadium (outside of the usual divisional foes) in 2025 include the Cardinals, Bears, and Lions. If the Bears get a decent head coach in the offseason, that game could be a tricky one.
Bengals 2025 away opponents
- Baltimore Ravens
- Buffalo Bills
- Cleveland Browns
- Denver Broncos
- Green Bay Packers
- Miami Dolphins
- Minnesota Vikings
- Pittsburgh Steelers
For Bengals fans wanting to see the team play on the road this year, there are some fun spots to potentially hit up. The Bengals are set to play on the road in Buffalo, Denver, Green Bay, Miami, and Minnesota, assuming none of those are flexed into international games.
Some might have noticed that the Bengals won't have the Kansas City Chiefs on their schedule in 2025. With the Bengals placing third in their division and the AFC North and AFC West playing each other in 2024, the two recent rivals won't meet up this year unless it's in the playoffs. It'll be the first time these two haven't played each other since Joe Burrow's rookie year in 2020.
The hope is that the Bengals can do what they couldn't do in 2024 and that's take advantage of playing a "weaker" schedule. They faced a fourth-place schedule in 2024 and it still wasn't enough. Hopefully, the 2025 schedule sets up a return to the playoffs and even a return trip to the Super Bowl for the Bengals.