2024 NFL Schedule Preview: Here are seven things we already know about this year’s slate of games

With the NFL Draft officially in the rearview mirror, there is only one big event left on the NFL offseason calendar and that is the schedule release. The only problem with this year’s release is that no one seems to have any idea when the calendar will actually be released.

Well, that used to be a problem, but that’s no longer the case, thanks to Sports Business Journal. According to at SBJThe NFL informed teams that the schedule would be released on Wednesday, May 15, making it the last version of the schedule since at least 1990.

For the past two years, the schedule has been released on the second Thursday in May, but the NFL decided to push that date back this year. The league provided no explanation as to why the release of the schedule was pushed back until now this year.

Even though we won’t know the full schedule until May 15, you won’t have to wait that long to get all the information and that’s because we already know several things about the 2024 calendar and we’re going to cover them below. below.

1. Opening Thursday evening in Kansas City. The defending Super Bowl champion hosts the season opener every year, meaning that, barring anything unforeseen, the Chiefs will be the home team in Thursday night’s opener. Their home schedule includes the Broncos, Chargers, Raiders, Ravens, Bengals, Texans, Saints and Buccaneers, so the NFL will have plenty of juicy matchups to choose from, including a possible title rematch. the AFC with Baltimore. The Bengals and Texans would also be attractive options. The NFL typically tries to avoid setting up divisional games in the opener, so the Chargers, Raiders and Broncos likely won’t play in Kansas City in the first week.
2. The NFL is set to play in Brazil for the first time. Sao Paulo will host the first-ever NFL game in Brazil and it will take place in Week 1. The Eagles will “host” the Packers in a rare Friday game that will air exclusively on Peacock on September 6.
3. The international series will also include matches in London and Munich. The NFL will play four games in Europe this year, including three in London and one in Germany. For the England slate of games, the Bears, Vikings and Jaguars will each serve as the home team in a game. As for the game in Germany, the Panthers will be the home team for the second NFL regular season game in Munich.
4. The Jaguars could find themselves back-to-back in London for the second straight season. According to Jacksonville.com, the Jags are scheduled to play back-to-back games in London for the second straight season. The Jags will host one game, then serve as the visiting team in a game, which will likely be against the Bears.
5. A Christmas double bill that will make history. For only the third time in 75 years, the NFL will play on a Wednesday and that will happen this year because December 25 falls on a Wednesday in 2024. So yes, that means the NFL will play on a Wednesday. you will give us a doubleheader at Christmas.
6. Teams could be assigned two short week games. NFL Owners approved a rule in March 2023 which now allows teams to play two games in a short week. This means that several teams could find themselves playing multiple games this year with only three days off. This will make scheduling the two Christmas matches much easier. The four teams playing on December 25 are scheduled to play the previous Saturday.
7. All round-trip opponents of the 32 teams. While we don’t yet know the time and dates of this year’s games, we do know who each team will be playing and you can view the home and away opponents for all 32 teams by clicking here.

The release of the NFL schedule has become a major off-season event for the league and this year should be no exception.