Three Bengals predictions for Thursday's schedule release

Here are three Bengals predictions ahead of Thursday's NFL schedule release

The NFL schedule is going to be released on Thursday night.

The league has continued with its' offseason, despite most of the sports world being put on hold due to COVID-19. There won't be any international games this season, but the league is plans to release a full 17-week schedule. 

Here are three Bengals predictions for Thursday's schedule release.

Opponents

Home: Ravens, Browns, Steelers, Cowboys, Jaguars, Giants, Titans and the Chargers

Away: Ravens, Browns, Steelers, Texans, Colts, Eagles, Redskins and the Dolphins

Division Games

The Bengals usually have one or two AFC North matchups in the month of September. The NFL will likely push most, if not all division games back just in case they have to delay the start of the regular season. Don't be surprised if the Bengals open with three or four straight non-divisional opponents. 

In a perfect world, the NFL would schedule the Bengals' matchups with the NFC East in September and early October, followed by non-divisional AFC opponents and then the AFC North games. The league may not want to schedule six-straight divisional matchups, but it's possible due to COVID-19. 

Primetime

The Bengals played in one primetime game last season, a 27-3 loss to the Steelers on Monday Night Football. 

The league will give the Bengals two primetime matchups this year. The country will want to see rookie quarterback Joe Burrow in action for his new team. They have plenty of matchups that would garner national interest. 

For the first time in more than three decades, the Battle of Ohio could be worth putting on a national stage. The Browns have made plenty of moves in each of the past two years. A Burrow vs Baker Mayfield matchup would be intriguing. 

Three other games that come with juicy storylines include the Chargers, Dolphins and Redskins. Burrow going up against Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert or Dwayne Haskins makes a lot of sense. 

Haskins beat Burrow out for the starting job at Ohio State in 2018. Tagovailoa and Herbert went 5th and 6th in this years' NFL Draft, respectively. The trio will always be compared to each other.  

Two primetime games feels like a reasonable expectation for the Bengals. 

Regions Matter

The NFL will try to limit the number of cross country trips early in the season. Instead of making the Chargers travel to Cincinnati in September, they could push that game back into October or November. 

The league could schedule games against the Eagles, Giants and Colts in the first half of the season. Even division matchups against the Browns, Steelers and Ravens could get consideration due to their proximity to Cincinnati. 

The Bengals will announce the schedule on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.