The 2024 NFL schedule is out.
We’re still a few months away from real football, but we know every matchup and week for the upcoming season. Here’s everything you need to know to bet the 2024 NFL schedule, already:
The 2024 NFL Schedule Basics
First Game: Ravens @ Chiefs - Thursday Night Football (September 5th, 2024)
We’ve actually already got early lines for this NFL kickoff game, with the Chiefs sitting as three-point favorites. As a Ravens fan, I really hope this line’s wrong. But, I liked a lot of what Kansas City did this offseason, and I’m pretty confident a Marquise Brown revenge game is going down to start the season. I’d probably take the over at 100 yards for Brown, if they dare set it that high.
Other Games to know:
Chiefs @ 49ers - Week 7 (Super Bowl rematch)
Ravens @ Chargers - Week 12 (Harbaugh Bowl)
Bears @ Commanders - Week 8 (Daniels vs Williams)
2024 NFL Schedule Takeaways
Steelers’ Tough December
It’s hard for me to feel bad for the Steelers, but man they got a tough December draw:
Week 15: @ Eagles (Dec. 15th)
Week 16: @ Ravens (Dec. 21st)
Week 17: vs Chiefs (Dec. 25th)
There’s a very real chance the Steelers have to play the three best teams in the league, in three different cities, in the span of 10 days. It might not hurt them during that first matchup at Philly, but I’ll certainly be fading Pittsburgh @ Baltimore and hosting the Chiefs. They’re gonna be in bad shape by the end of that stretch against three Super Bowl candidates.
Chargers’ Tough Travel
The Los Angeles Chargers are gonna be jet lagged as hell next year. Jim Harbaugh’s new squad will travel an NFL-high 26,803 miles and make 36 timezone changes next year.
The Chargers’ current win total line for 2024 sits at O/U 8.4 wins, with the under juiced to around +115. I think that’s a pretty smart under bet given the value and the travel.
The 2024 International Game Slate
Speaking of travel, five teams are tasked with some extra travel this season for the NFL's international schedule. We've got games in Brazil, England, and Germany next season. The games I'm most excited for are Packers vs Eagles in Sao Paulo and Trevor Lawrence vs Caleb Williams (I'll call it the franchise QB faceoff) in London. Here’s the entire international slate:
The 2024 International Schedule is set! 🏈🗺️@NFLBrasil | @NFLUKIRE | @NFLDeutschland
— NFL (@NFL) May 15, 2024
📺: NFL Schedule Release — Tonight 8pm ET on NFLN/ESPN2
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/HMwi7SLZ8h
2024 NFL Strength of Schedule
A lot can change during the actual season, but there’s a pretty clear difference in schedule difficulty for the 2024 campaign. Here are the easiest and hardest schedules in the league, based of 2023 win rates:
Easiest 2024 NFL Schedules
- Atlanta Falcons (.453)
- New Orleans Saints (.453)
- Chicago Bears (.467)
Hardest 2024 NFL Schedules
- Cleveland Browns (.547)
- Baltimore Ravens (.536)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (.533)
What To Do With Strength of Schedule?
You may think strength of schedule is already baked into season odds and win totals, but it’s still super relevant. Three of the four hardest schedules in the league last year saw their NFL win totals hit the under (and five of the top seven).
