NFL quietly punishes Bengals fans with schedule defect that hasn’t been seen in nearly 40 years
The Cincinnati Bengals have the majority of their home games after the first two months of the regular season. It’s an oddity that hasn’t been seen like this since the start of the 1990s.
The Cincinnati Bengals’ 2026 regular season schedule features eight home games at Paycor Stadium compared to nine road games outside the Queen City. That’s all fine and good as there will only be eight true road games next season.
When those eight home games are to be played is a bit strange.
Cincinnati’s first two games at home are in Week 1 and Week 4. The home-opener takes place on Sept. 13 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The following home contest will be on Oct. 4 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Bengals won’t play at home again until the calendar turns to November. How could this be?
Bengals’ 2026 schedule features only two home games before November
There are two main reasons for this anomaly. Week 1 is later in the calendar than usual because Labor Day falls on the latest possible day of the year: Sept. 7. The regular season always begins after the national holiday.
This kind of schedule happens every six years. Cincinnati opened the Joe Burrow era on Sept. 13 back in 2020 with a Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. The 2020 Bengals also had three home games before November that year, so what’s the main reason?
Early bye week.
Cincinnati is off during Week 6, its earliest bye in nine years. The club will play two home games in from Week 1-5, rest in Week 6, and will be on the road in Week 7 against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Sunday of Week 8 is Nov. 1. The Bengals will host the Tennessee Titans that day, just like they did six years ago during Burrow’s rookie season.
Unfortunate for the fans wanting warm-weather games
If you are a fan who only likes going to games during the first two months of the season when the weather is typically warmer, this is an unlucky break for you. It seems almost impossible for an NFL team to have just two home games before November arrives.
Almost impossible.
The last time this happened with Cincinnati was in 1990. The NFL shockingly scheduled five consecutive road games for the Bengals from Week 4-8, leaving the Bengals with just two home games before their third finally came on Nov. 4.
Cincinnati lost three of those five consecutive road games, but finished 9-7 that season and won the AFC Central.
The positive of this phenomena happening 36 years later is the Bengals will have six home games during the final 11 weeks, and four in the final seven weeks. They will not have back-to-back home games until the very end of the season, which is another oddity to note, but that should come in handy if the AFC North is on the line.
For the fans looking to pack Paycor Stadium this year, prioritize layers. Most of the games will be cold.