CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Bengals are hitting the road for Thanksgiving. Ideally, quarterback Joe Burrow would prefer to be at home.
Cincinnati is slotted for a Week 13 holiday game against the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati's division rival that has won the AFC North in back-to-back seasons. And with the Bengals playing Baltimore in primetime for yet another year, Burrow had a tongue-in-cheek request for the NFL schedule makers.
"Playing in Baltimore for the fourth straight primetime year isn't ideal," Burrow said after Tuesday's voluntary workout. "Maybe we can get one of those in Cincinnati next year. Please."
The Bengals have played a night game at MT&T Bank Stadium in each of the last three seasons. All of them have been defeats, including last year's 35-34 loss on Week 10.
That matchup features the AFC North's most successful teams in recent years. The Bengals won the division in 2021 and 2022 before the Ravens took the division crown in 2023 and 2024. Baltimore has won four straight games against Cincinnati.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor echoed Burrow's comments and said the team would prefer to have more primetime games at Paycor Stadium. This year, three of Cincinnati's four schedule night games are road contests.
However, Taylor pointed to the team's success in those situations last season. Cincinnati won three of the team's five primetime road games in 2024 and said the team is embracing the challenge ahead of this year.
"Playing on Thanksgiving night in a standalone game with the whole world watching, sitting on their couch, is really exciting," Taylor said on Tuesday. "It's why you're in this business."
But it's not just the primetime games that Burrow wants. He also expressed a desire for the Bengals to get an international fixture. Cincinnati missed out on playing the Dolphins in Spain this year and are not slated to get an international game until 2027, Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn told reporters at the NFL's annual league meeting in April.
Burrow said part of the reason he agreed to being featured in the Netflix show "Quarterback" was to expand the league's footprint internationally.
"To not have a stage like that is a little disappointing," Burrow said. "I feel like I've consciously worked hard to try to grow the game internationally over the last 18 months or so. Hopefully at some point in my career we can go over there."
