The 2024 NFL season is approaching, and with the full schedule officially released, the excitement is there and growing. The Bengals have a great, but competitive schedule ahead of them, with five primetime games scheduled. All of these matchups will be appointment viewing for Bengals fans.
Primetime games are matchups that are must-sees, where rivals face one another and talented teams do battle against one another. These are the most anticipated games of the weekend. This year, three specific Bengals primetime matchups stand out, and can be categorized as easy, medium, or hard. Let's take a look.
Easy: New York Giants -- Week 6, Sunday Night Football
To be clear, no matchup is technically "easy" in the NFL. We're speaking relatively here. No win is guaranteed, but some matchups are can prove to be less difficult than others. Falling under this category would be when the Bengals play the New York Giants in Week 6 on Sunday Night Football.
While the Bengals didn't have their best season last season, they still did better than the Giants. The Bengals finished with a 9-8 record, while the Giants finished 6-11. Joe Burrow and Daniel Jones both had their seasons cut short due to injuries; Burrow finished 2023 with 15 touchdowns and 2,309 passing yards, while Jones finished with two touchdowns and 909 passing yards.
This matchup is also categorized here because of the loss of Giants running back Saquon Barkley to the Philadelphia Eagles. Barkley was a powerhouse running back whose absence will be felt. Barkley finished 2023 with 962 yards and six touchdowns. Even though Joe Mixon is now a Houston Texan, there's confidence that, despite this being SNF, the Bengals can come out of this one with a win.