By Larry Holder, Mike Sando and Austin Mock
The NFL released the full 2024 regular season schedule Wednesday, highlighted by the season opener as the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will host the Baltimore Ravens in the league’s premiere on Sept. 5, a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship Game.
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And yet the Houston Texans have seemingly earned the confidence of the NFL with a significant scheduling shift from 2023 to 2024.
The AFC South champions will play four prime-time games this season, including two Sunday night games (Week 2 vs. Chicago Bears, Week 10 vs. Detroit Lions), one Monday night game (Week 11 at Dallas Cowboys) and one Thursday night game (Week 9 at New York Jets). Houston also received one nationally televised Saturday game against the Chiefs in Week 16. But the grand prize came with a Christmas Day game against the Ravens in Week 17.
The Texans played 16 consecutive early window kickoffs (1 p.m. Eastern) last season before being flexed into their lone regular season prime-time game with a playoff spot on the line in Week 18.
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The Thanksgiving Day matchups are as follows:
- Bears at Lions, 12:30 p.m. ET
- New York Giants at Cowboys, 4:30 p.m. ET
- Miami Dolphins at Green Bay Packers 8:20 p.m. ET
The 2024 @nfl Schedule Grid…
H/T @RealJackAndrade pic.twitter.com/ASAP9VEUOy
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) May 16, 2024
The top two picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Bears’ Caleb Williams and the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels, are scheduled to meet in Week 8 when the Commanders host the Bears. If both are starting, it would be the sixth game in NFL history between rookie starting quarterbacks selected with the first and second overall picks in the NFL Draft.
Aaron Rodgers will make his first full-game debut, barring another injury, for the New York Jets in Week 1 on the road against the San Francisco 49ers on “Monday Night Football.”
The Carolina Panthers are the only team without a prime-time game. Carolina finished last season with the league’s worst record at 2-15.
2024 NFL strength of schedule
- 1. Browns .547
- 2. Ravens .536
- 3. Steelers .533
- T-4. Packers .526
- T-4. Texans .526
- T-6. Bills .516
- T-6. Giants .516
- T-8. Jaguars .512
- T-8. Raiders .512
- T-8. Patriots .512
- 11. Lions .509
- T-12. Cowboys .505
- T-12. Rams .505
- T-12. Jets .505
- T-12. 49ers .505
- T-16. Bengals .502
- T-16. Chiefs .502
- T-16. Vikings .502
- T-16. Commanders .502
- 20. Broncos .495
- T-21. Colts .491
- T-21. Eagles .491
- T-21. Titans .491
- T-24. Cardinals .488
- T-24. Dolphins .488
- T-24. Seahawks .488
- T-27. Chargers .478
- T-27. Buccaneers .478
- T-29. Panthers .467
- T-29. Bears .467
- T-31. Falcons .453
- T-31. Saints .453
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(Photo: Ryan Kang / Getty Images)