The Cincinnati Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys felt like it would be a much bigger game for Week 14 than it’s shaping up to be. Both teams, once perhaps divisional favorites if not Super Bowl contenders, are now reeling, heading in the wrong direction. And so is the NFL’s primetime schedule because they are slated for that week’s Monday Night Football.
On top of that, there’s nothing the NFL can do about it because of a rather cartoonish reason. As it turns out, in the league’s quest to reach a wider audience, it is set to simulcast the game on ESPN+ and Disney+. And, of course, they have been preparing for the Bengals and Cowboys all along—preparing a simulcast replete with The Simpsons animations themed around the two teams. D’oh!
The NFL holds great leeway in terms of dictating what games are shown and when. That is the entire premise behind “flex” scheduling, which allows the league some authority to maximize the ratings of said games. In this case, however, there is too much involved in the airing of the Bengals and Cowboys games, and not enough time to pivot to another game with this event coming up in a matter of weeks.
The Cincinnati Bengals would ordinarily be Super Bowl favorites with a healthy Joe Burrow. For whatever reason—mostly the defense—they have been anything but. The Bengals have Bungled time and again, finding new and exciting ways to lose. Once confident they could climb out of an 0-3 hole, they are now sitting at 4-7. And the Cowboys just extended their own mark of futility after trailing by 20-plus points in their sixth consecutive home game.
The Bengals have the Steelers in Pittsburgh in Week 13 coming out of their bye before the Cowboys game in Dallas. They wrap up their schedule with the Titans, Browns, Broncos, and Steelers again. Chances are the Steelers will beat them at least once, and if they lose one of the other four games, they will have a losing record.
As far as the Cowboys go, they are already without QB Dak Prescott for the remainder of the season. Now 3-7, they still have to play the Commanders twice and Eagles once. They also have the Giants, Bengals, and Panthers, which are all winnable, in addition to the Buccaneers.
In fact, the NFL has the Cowboys scheduled for two more primetime games and two evening-window games. That includes their annual Thanksgiving Day game, naturally, the week before the Bengals game. They also play the Eagles in a prime evening slot.
The Bengals also have an additional primetime game slotted for them by the NFL in Week 16 against the Browns, which will, of course, be garbage. The NFL is very likely to flex that game out of that window, though, on Thursday Night Football. If it does, we will hear about it soon, because the league must announce changes to TNF no later than 28 days in advance. This Thursday will be 28 days.
