Joe Burrow, Orlando Brown Jr. share insightful outlooks on Bengals’ 2026 schedule quirk
The Cincinnati Bengals will have the same weekly schedule during the first half of the 2026 regular season. Both quarterback Joe Burrow and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. are content with that reality.
The Cincinnati Bengals are starting the 2026 regular season with seven consecutive 1:00 p.m. ET kickoffs. They won’t get to another window until their Week 9 game in Madrid, Spain, where the local time will be 3:30 p.m. and 9:30 a.m. back in Cincinnati.
Both quarterback Joe Burrow and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. believe this to be an advantage for the Bengals.
“That’s good,” Burrow said to Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson. “When we go on the road, we get back home early and watch more football.” It’s always beneficial to watch more games. See how teams are playing and what teams are doing. See what defenses are doing.”
“I think that’s perfect,” Brown said to Hobson. “Love that. No late game nights, a lot of rest, the same routine. That consistency is going to help us.”
Bengals can capitalize off consistency in first two months of 2026 season
There used to be a time when Bengals fans craved the 1pm start times. Cincinnati regularly struggled while playing in primetime games at night before head coach Zac Taylor took over with Burrow as his QB.
Those days are well in the past; to the point where a lack of night games early in the year seems odd. Burrow likes it for the added preparation time for future opponents. Brown is a fan because of the consistent routine it provides.
Brown is also fine with the Week 6 bye week. Cincinnati will not be getting extra rest following its international trip, rather it will come after the first five games and pave the way for 12 consecutive weeks of play to close the year out.
“I’ve got no complaint about that,” Brown said. “As a player, we’ll get on a roll and get on a roll as a team. Normally, right around that week seven or week eight, it’s always great because the team is settled in the seven-to-eight range.”
The Bengals have consistently been a better team during the second half of the season over the past five seasons. They are 20-20 in their first eight games and 26-18 in their final nine since 2021.
Cincinnati is effectively a 10-win team in the second half of the year since its Super Bowl season. It sounds like Brown is excited to continue that without a bye week getting in the way this time around.