The Cincinnati Bengals sound like a team about to be in primetime often next season.
After receiving a handful of appearances last year, Mike North, the NFL’s vice president for broadcasting, says Joe Burrow and the Bengals might just max out the number of allotted slots per team.
“I would expect them to be pretty close to maxed out in terms of their prime-time appearances,” North said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “You can find a really good national television home for probably 12 of their 17 games. That tells you what we think of the Bengals. They’re going to be seen on a lot of national television.”
Star players, playing competitive games and sheer winning are some of the big things that influence schedule-makers to put teams in primetime.
Last year, the Bengals had five primetime slots but one was flexed out (Nov. 20 vs. Pittsburgh) and the early-January game against the Bills was canceled early.
Besides AFC North clashes, the Bengals play the Rams, Bills, Jaguars, 49ers, Titans and Chiefs next season, as some of the notables.
Clearly, there are plenty of chances for the Bengals to get consistent primetime slots in 2023.
