Who plays Thursday night football this week
The NFL's Week 9 schedule led with Sunday's Bengals-Falcons game in Madrid, not a Thursday matchup, as Dallas also fell to Arizona in overtime.
Why who plays Thursday night football this week is trending
Who plays Thursday night football this week is a question without a confirmed answer in the reporting available here. The only NFL schedule details on hand come from CNN's roundup of Week 9, and that roundup centers on Sunday, not Thursday. The Cincinnati Bengals face the Atlanta Falcons at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, with kickoff set for 9:30 a.m. ET, according to CNN.
That Madrid game is the Bernabéu's second regular-season NFL game. The Miami Dolphins beat the Washington Commanders 16-13 in overtime there last November, CNN reported. CNN framed Week 9 as the stretch when real contenders begin to separate from pretenders, with the Bengals' hot streak and Sunday's Madrid game as a centerpiece.
Burrow's streak ahead of the Madrid game
Joe Burrow has thrown 13 touchdown passes during Cincinnati's three-game winning streak, CNN reported, a run that has pushed him into the MVP conversation. The Bengals defense has not matched that form; Cincinnati allowed 36 points in a win over the Tennessee Titans, per CNN, and that unit will be tested again in Madrid.
Atlanta is looking for a reset after getting shut out in a rain-soaked loss at Tampa Bay, according to CNN. The Falcons could find more room to operate against a Bengals defense that has been giving up points, per CNN's reporting.
Dallas Cowboys' Sunday collapse
CNN's Week 9 roundup also covers Sunday's Dallas Cowboys game against the Arizona Cardinals, a result the outlet called a familiar kind of pain for Dallas fans. The Cowboys led the Cardinals 24-10 with about 11 minutes left, then lost 33-30 in overtime, per CNN.
Arizona kicker Chad Ryland missed an extra point that would have put the Cardinals ahead with six seconds left in regulation, CNN reported, and Dallas still could not close out the win. The loss ended a streak in which the Cowboys were 69-0 at home when leading by at least 14 points in the fourth quarter, according to CNN. Afterward, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones defended head coach Brian Schottenheimer, saying others had let the coach down, per CNN.
What's known, what isn't, and what's next
What's known: CNN's Week 9 roundup names a Sunday international matchup between the Bengals and Falcons, and it recaps Sunday results already in the books, including the Cowboys' overtime loss to the Cardinals. What isn't known, at least from the reporting gathered here, is the specific Thursday night matchup fans are searching for; this source doesn't name a Thursday game for the week.
What happens next: Cincinnati and Atlanta kick off Sunday at 9:30 a.m. ET in Madrid. Readers looking for Thursday's specific kickoff time and matchup should check the league's official schedule directly, since it isn't part of the source material covered here. Until that confirmation surfaces, Sunday's Bengals-Falcons game in Madrid is the clearest answer available for fans trying to figure out this week's biggest NFL matchup.
Facts per CNN. Opinion is the taproom's.