Joe Burrow isn’t completely happy that the Bengals play the Ravens in Baltimore in primetime on Thursday but once more. It’s the fourth time in as a few years Cincinnati has needed to play underneath the lights in Baltimore. Whereas it’s an anomaly, NFL Vice President of broadcast planning and scheduling Mike North concedes he has some extent.
Creating the NFL’s schedule isn’t any simple activity, and appeasing all people is successfully unimaginable. As North routinely jokes, the objective appears to be to make everybody equally sad with their lot. However he admits there’s something to Burrow’s complaints concerning the Bengals’ schedule, maybe one thing to handle of their formulation.
Final week, Joe Burrow mentioned that the Bengals touring in primetime to play the Ravens a fourth yr in a “isn’t perfect”. He added, “Possibly we will get a kind of in Cincinnati, please”.
It doesn’t assist that the Bengals have misplaced their final three primetime journeys to Baltimore. Joe Burrow performed in all of them, most of them on Thursday, and was aggressive. Of their final two outings, the Bengals misplaced 35-34 and 34-20. Within the latter, it was a one-score sport till the Ravens pulled away within the remaining 20 minutes.
North informed Geoff Hobson of the Bengals’ web site that Joe Burrow’s grievance was truthful. “It’s not a one-or-two-years form of a league the place you repair each downside each different yr or each two years”. He admitted that he doesn’t like having the schedule this manner, however he felt his palms have been tied, primarily. He mentioned if he might “wave a magic wand” and alter it, he would, however Bengals-Ravens beckoned for primetime.
In principle, North might have simply flipped the Bengals’ two video games in opposition to the Ravens—they play two weeks later—and have Baltimore go to Cincinnati for the primetime sport. I’m certain there’s some logistical anomaly complicating that, although. Maybe Cincinnati is internet hosting a Skyline chili pageant that week and there can be nowhere to park. Sadly, Burrow and firm should miss out on that scrumptious concoction.
The Steelers, for instance, have performed on the highway in Week 1 virtually continuously for the previous decade, however that’s primarily as a result of Pirates. For no matter cause, they all the time appear to have a homestand schedule for opening day. North didn’t present a lot of an evidence for why they couldn’t swap the Bengals’ two Ravens video games. The closest he got here was saying that they wish to put rivalries in prime time, particularly on Thanksgiving. Sorry, Burrow.
