Rejoice, football fans. After an impossibly long wait from the end of the 2023 season until now, the 2024 NFL season is finally beginning to take shape. Not only have we gotten through the NFL Scouting Combine, free agency, the NFL Draft, and rookie training camps, now we have the 2024 NFL schedule at our disposal to spend countless hours looking at and obsessing over until the regular season begins on Sept. 5.
Whileevery single gameon the NFL schedule feels exciting and noteworthy for one reason or another right now, I've taken it upon myself to narrow down the 272-game schedule to 15 key matchups that I'm more eager to watch than all of the rest.
15. Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders
Week 8 – Sunday, Oct. 27 (CBS, 1 p.m. ET)
Let's kick things off here with the first matchup between Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels. These are two young quarterbacks whose careers will hopefully be long and successful and who will always be linked not only because they each won a Heisman Trophy, but primarily because they were the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft less than one month ago.
Caleb Williams, a D.C. native, will be heading back to his hometown to play against the franchise that likely would've taken him first overall if they had the opportunity. Instead, Washington selected Jayden Daniels, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner, and paired him with Williams' former assistant coach at USC, Kliff Kingsbury, whom the Commanders hired as their new offensive coordinator on Dan Quinn's staff.
Whether or not the Chicago Bears or Washington Commanders will be ready to be playoff teams in 2024 is unknown at this point in time, but each fan base will rightfully be optimistic heading into the season, because for the first time in a really, really long time — much longer in Chicago than Washington, obviously — there's a young quarterback with superstar potential in the city whose presence alone brings excitement to the franchise overnight.
14. Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
Week 7 – Sunday, Oct. 20 (FOX, 1 p.m. ET)
One of only three divisional matchups on the list, the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the New York Giants is one that piques my interest only because of how ugly things got when Saquon Barkley decided to leave New York after six seasons to join one of the Giants' NFC East division rivals. What remains to be seen is whether fans of the G-Men have the same level of animosity toward Barkley as former Giants running back Tiki Barber does… if they do, Barkley is in for an awfully rude welcoming when he steps on the field at MetLife Stadium.
Over the last two seasons, Saquon Barkley rushed for 2,274 yards and 16 touchdowns while also hauling in 98 receptions for 618 yards and four touchdowns while playing within a Giants offense that was, let's just say, middling at best. The situation he walks into in Philadelphia should be the best by far of his short NFL career, so it'll be interesting to see where he falls in the pecking order of the abundance of weapons that are playing in the City of Brotherly Love.
Meanwhile, in the New York metropolitan area, the situation is becoming more dire by the day. There are already rumors that Giants head coach Brian Daboll may be on the hot seat — warming it up for Bill Belichick, perhaps? — and how things play out during the 2024 season will determine how much longer he might keep his job. A win against the Eagles and his former running back wouldn't guarantee a Brian Daboll return in 2025 by any means, but it would definitely be a win Giants fans could get excited about.
13. Atlanta Falcons at Minnesota Vikings
Week 14 – Sunday, Dec. 8 (FOX, 1 p.m. ET)
You know, I would say that this is the Kirk Cousins revenge game, but at least the Minnesota Vikings had the presence of mind to let Cousins know that they were planning on drafting his successor, allowing Cousins to walk into free agency instead of remaining stuck on a team with one eye on a rebuild. The Atlanta Falcons didn't offer Cousins the same courtesy, apparently stunning Cousins with their decision to select Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in the NFL Draft just a month after signing the 12-year veteran to a lucrative, long-term deal.
In recent years, both the Falcons and the Vikings have had the tendency of playing in games that just refuse to be normal, so there's no reason to expect that it will be a normal 60 minutes of action when Atlanta and Minnesota hook up this season. Factor in the appearances of Justin Jefferson, Bijan Robinson, and rookie quarterback JJ McCarthy, and there's a lot to be intrigued by here.
12. Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans
Week 5 – Sunday, Oct. 6 (CBS, 1 p.m. ET)
The last time Stefon Diggs played against his former team, it was back in November 2022, when as a member of the Buffalo Bills, Diggs pulled in 12 receptions for 128 yards in a 33-30 loss — this is better known as the “How the hell did Justin Jefferson make that catch?” Game — against his former team, the Minnesota Vikings. Now, Diggs gets an opportunity to play against the Bills for the first time as a member of the Houston Texans.
Buffalo traded Diggs to Houston for a 2025 second-ound pick after the often-disgruntled receiver seemingly announced to the world that he was ready to part ways with the Bills with a cryptic tweet just three weeks before he was dealt. Now, after the Texans surprisingly made a run to the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs last season, Rookie of the Year winner CJ Stroud has a bona fide No. 1 option to distribute the ball to, on top of Nico Collins, Tank Dell, and newly acquired running back Joe Mixon.
The Texans are full-blown Super Bowl contenders in 2024. The rapid rise of Stroud and the offseason maneuverings of Houston general manager Nick Caserio say so. But is Buffalo, after another postseason failure in 2023 and now heading into the 2024 season without Stefon Diggs, still in the hunt for the franchise's first Lombardi Trophy? Or will this season prove to be a transition year of sorts for the Bills?
11. Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions
Week 1 – Sunday, Sept. 8 (NBC, 8:20 p.m. ET)
34 months after being traded from the Detroit Lions to the Los Angeles Rams, Matthew Stafford made his long-awaited return to Detroit in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs this past January, nearly leading the Rams to a come-from-behind win over the Lions. Now, Stafford will return to Detroit for the second time in the opening Sunday Night Football Game of the season, as both the Rams and Lions look to build on successful 2023 seasons.
The Rams weren't supposed to be in contention for a playoff spot last year, but with the emergence of Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams, and a return to reasonably good health for Stafford — who was limited to only nine games in the 2022 season — Sean McVay led LA to their fifth postseason appearance in his seven seasons as the Rams' head coach.
Meanwhile in Detroit, Dan Campbell led the Lions to their first playoff appearance since 2016 — a massive come-up for a franchise that had become a punchline over the past few years. It was expected that the Lions would at least push for a postseason berth in 2023, but the thought of Detroit eventually being two quarters away from making their first-ever Super Bowl appearance was a surprise to almost everyone. Now, as we prepare to enter the 2024 season, the Lions have legitimate Super Bowl expectations — a spot that Matthew Stafford never found himself in when he was quarterbacking in the 313.
10. Houston Texans at Dallas Cowboys
Week 11 – Monday, Nov. 18 (ESPN, 8:15 p.m. ET)
The lone two teams in the Lone Star State will meet Nov. 18 with in-state bragging rights on the line, and while you may think that because the Dallas Cowboys have much deeper roots both in the state and around the country than the Houston Texans do, I'd advise you not to overlook or underestimate what kind of foothold the Texans could eventually obtain in the state of Texas.
The last 12 months of Houston Texans football could not have gone much better than they did. After lucking into the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Texans took CJ Stroud and then immediately traded back up to select Will Anderson Jr. with the third overall pick. Stroud and Anderson won Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, respectively, and the Texans made a return to the postseason under first year head coach DeMeco Ryans. As mentioned earlier, the Texans added Joe Mixon and Stefon Diggs in the offseason, signifying that they believe their Super Bowl window is open right now.
Over in the NFC, it has appeared as if the Dallas' Super Bowl window has been at least cracked open each of the last three seasons, only for the Cowboys to find a way to emphatically close it shut once the playoffs rolled around. The Cowboys have finished 12-5 three years in a row, but have had their hearts broken come January each time. And after the offseason began with promises that the Cowboys would be “all in,” it now seems like they might not even be better off than they were at the beginning of last season.
By no means am I suggesting that if the Texans go into Jerry World and beat the Cowboys it will mean that Houston can officially call itself “America's Team” or anything of the sort. But it could be an indication of where each of these franchises are heading as we enter the second half of the 2020s.
9. Baltimore Ravens at Los Angeles Chargers
Week 12 – Monday, Nov. 25 (ESPN, 8:15 ET)
In his first season as head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, Jim Harbaugh will not only be looking to quickly build a winning tradition within the Chargers franchise… he'll also have the opportunity to avenge some personal demons in the process.
After a decade-long wait, we'll finally be treated to the fourth edition of The Harbaugh Bowl on this year's NFL schedule, when John Harbaugh leads the Baltimore Ravens into Los Angeles to face Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers. In their three previous head-to-head meetings, John Harbaugh is a perfect 3-0 against his younger brother, including the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl XLVII victory over the Jim Harbaugh-led San Francisco 49ers back in 2013.
Even though Jim Harbaugh's track record indicates that he's just the guy who can fast-track a rebuild anywhere he coaches — Stanford, the 49ers, Michigan all work as examples as good examples — turning the Chargers into a playoff team during his first season back on the West Coast may be a task too tough to handle, especially given the competitive state of the AFC. And there will be few tests more difficult on the Chargers' 2024 schedule than the Ravens, who were just one home win in the AFC Championship Game away from making the Super Bowl just a few months ago.
8. Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 2 – Sunday, Sept. 15 (CBS, 4:25 p.m. ET)
Another chapter of the Cincinnati Bengals vs. Kansas City Chiefs rivalry will unfold at Arrowhead Stadium — excuse me, Burrowhead Stadium— in the middle of September in what will be CBS' late-afternoon Game of the Week, which means Jim Nantz and Tony Romo will be on the call and surely eager to gush over the quarterback play of Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes. Bengals/Chiefs is undoubtedly one of the biggest money matchups on the NFL schedule when both teams are healthy, and last year the league missed out on it because the game was scheduled for New Year's Eve, long after Burrow had already been ruled out for the season.
Burrow is 3-1 in his career against Mahomes, one of the few QBs who has a head-to-head edge over the two-time MVP, but will Burrow be 100 percent when Cincinnati goes on the road to visit Kansas City? Latest intel from Cincinnati suggests that Burrow, who has returned to the field this month and has been throwing, will be just fine come Sept. 15. But I can't say I'm surprised that the NFL locked this one into the early portion of the schedule to increase the likelihood that both teams will roll in healthy, and I'm all for it.
7. Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers
Week 8 – Sunday, Oct. 27 (NBC, 8:20 p.m. ET)
Over the last three years, the Kansas City Chiefs are the only team in the NFL with more regular-season wins than the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. Now I can already hear the chorus of fans who are saying, “Regular season doesn't matter when you keep coming up short in the playoffs,” a retort particularly applicable to the Cowboys in this instance, but either way, we're talking 49ers/Cowboys here, friends!
This is a rivalry that is littered with championships and history, evoking images of Joe Montana, Dwight Clark, Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman and Jerry Rice whenever you think about these two teams. It's arguably the best non-divisional rivalry in the history of the NFL, and without question one of the top uniform matchups possible.
The 49ers have climbed to the top of the mountain twice in the last five years, only to be knocked off by the Chiefs each time before they could get their hands on the Lombardi Trophy. Meanwhile, the Cowboys still haven't reached a Super Bowl, or an NFC Championship Game, since 1995. Both teams have their sights set on a Super Bowl appearance in 2025, and this game could prove to be pivotal for seeding in the NFC playoff picture.
6. Buffalo Bills at New York Jets
Week 6 – Monday, Oct. 14 (ESPN, 8:15 p.m. ET)
While both 2024 matchups on the NFL schedule between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets are certainly worth watching, there's an extra layer of intrigue to their meeting at MetLife Stadium in Week 6, given how drastically and abruptly the landscape of the NFL turned on its ear when these two teams played there in the opening Monday Night Football game of the season back in September 2023.
Within minutes of kickoff, Aaron Rodgers' first season with the Jets came to a screeching halt thanks to a fluky Achilles tear that sidelined the 19-year-veteran for the remainder of the 2023 season. Now, after flirting with coming back at the tail end of 2023 — a notion that was as ridiculous in the moment as it seems now — Rodgers is finally slated to be back, giving the Jets hope that their 13-year postseason drought could soon come to an end. But with four games scheduled against Buffalo and Miami, plus games against the Texans, Rams, Steelers and 49ers — playoff teams from a year ago — the Jets may need peak Rodgers to get there.
5. San Francisco 49ers at Miami Dolphins
Week 16 – Sunday, Dec. 22 (CBS, 4:25 p.m. ET)
Come for the firepower on both sides of the ball, and good lord is there plenty, but stay for the chess match between San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and his former assistant, Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. These are two of the most brilliant offensive minds we have in the NFL, and with so many weapons — let's just list them off: Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane — at their disposal, these are arguably two of the most entertaining offenses we have in the NFL.
4. Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills
Week 11 – Sunday, Nov. 17 (CBS, 4:25 p.m. ET)
I'll just leave these here to get y'all ready for this gem on the 2024 NFL schedule:
Y'all are ready, right? Nov. 17 can't come soon enough.
3. Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 1 – Thursday, Sept. 5 (NBC, 8:20 p.m. ET)
The NFL decided to come out of the gate with a bang with the schedule, putting an AFC Championship Game rematch for the opening Thursday Night Football game of the season. Only this time, the Kansas City Chiefs won't be making the trip to Baltimore. The Ravens will instead head to Kansas City, where they'll watch the Chiefs raise a Super Bowl banner for the third time in five years before kicking off the 2024 NFL season. Maybe being on the wrong side of the championship ceremony will prove to be the fuel the Ravens need to add to their fire in order to make their first trip to a Super Bowl in over a decade.
Last season was the closest the Ravens have come to making a Super Bowl return since Lamar Jackson took over as the starting quarterback in 2018, but as has been the case with many great teams in the AFC over the past half-decade, Baltimore just didn't have quite enough to topple a Chiefs team that feels more and more inevitable by the year. The Ravens have reloaded, bringing in Derrick Henry to co-lead a rushing attack along with Lamar Jackson that was already the best in the NFL last year, and despite the departure of defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, the AFC North favorite should still have a lights-out defense.
Baltimore may prove to be the most formidable challenger that the AFC has produced in the Patrick Mahomes era, and like the Detroit Lions did last year, Baltimore may have what it takes to play spoiler in Kansas City on the opening night of the season. But whether or not they will be the team to knock Kansas City off the top of the pedestal won't be determined until January.
2. Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears / Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
Week 11 – Sunday, Nov. 17th (FOX, 1 p.m. ET) / Week 18 – TBD
There's admittedly a good deal of personal bias here, given my lifelong Chicago Bears fandom. With that said, both the Bears and Green Bay Packers have set themselves up extremely well for the future, and each of their regular-season meetings could prove to be appointment viewing over the next handful of years.
In the minds of many Bears fans, last year was supposed to be the year the balance finally back swung in Chicago's favor. Hell, I even made the trek up from Naples to Chicago for the Bears' opening week game against the Packers to see things finally see things go Chicago's way. But Jordan Love and the Pack had other plans. Love now looks like he has fallen into place as the Packers' next decade-plus long starter after Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, a development that felt like a low blow to everyone in the city of Chicago and Bears fans all around the country Ryan Poles zeroed in on Caleb Williams in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Now, with the additions of Williams and a whole bunch of other pieces that seem to perfectly complement the hyped-up rookie quarterback, the Bears might finally be in business. But even this lifelong Bears fan knows that Green Bay isn't going to let go of their grasp on NFL North supremacy too easily, whether that be to Chicago, Detroit or Minnesota. But these 2024 meetings between the Bears and Packers may give us an idea of what this rivalry may look like over the next decade or so.
1. Kansas City Chiefs at San Francisco 49ers
Week 7 – Sunday, Oct. 20 (FOX, 4:25 p.m. ET)
After what we witnessed from these two teams in Super Bowl LVIII back in February, how could the highly anticipated rematch between Kansas City and San Francisco not be the top game on this list? Of course, nobody can guarantee that this regular-season showdown in Santa Clara will live up to the hype, but we won't know that for another fivemonths. So for now, sit back, relax, and take in the 2024 NFL schedule in its entirety.
