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NFL 2024 Schedule: Opener Set; Strength Ranked Team-By-Team

Bill Speros for Bookies.com

Bill Speros  | 7 mins

NFL 2024 Schedule: Opener Set; Strength Ranked Team-By-Team

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The NFL releases its full schedule Wednesday night at 8. But we already know which teams have the strongest schedule and which ones have the weakest. 

The NFL season opens on the night of Thursday. September 5 when the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs play host to the Baltimore Ravens in a rematch of the AFC Championship game. 

The Chiefs beat the Ravens in the AFC title game this past January. NFL futures odds have the Chiefs as favorites to three-peat as Super Bowl champs. The Chiefs are 3-point favorites in the season-opener and the total is 49.5 points at DraftKings


RELATED: Super Bowl 59 Odds


The “home” Philadelphia Eagles and “visiting” Green Bay Packers will play on Friday, September 6 in Sao Paolo, Brazil. That will be the first NFL game played in the Southern Hemisphere. The Eagles are 1.5-point favorites on a total of 48.5 points. 

Super Bowl 59 will be played in New Orleans on February 9, 2025. Kickoff is set for 6:28 p.m. EDT on Fox.

Each team’s opponents were determined once the regular season was complete in January.  Since we know each team’s opponents for the upcoming season, we’re able to decide on the 2024 strength of schedule based on last year’s final record of each team’s opponents. 

Here is the rundown of all 32 NFL teams, based on their opponent’s 2023-24 record. 

Toughest and Weakest NFL Team Schedules 

NFL 2024 Schedule: Opener Set; Strength Ranked Team-By-Team 1

The Cleveland Browns have the NFL's toughest schedule this upcoming season. Their opponents had a combined winning percentage of .547 last season. The Browns reached the postseason in January before getting smoked by the Houston Texans 45-14 in the Wild-Card Round. 

The AFC North is matched up against the AFC West and NFC East this season in terms of its inter- and intradivisional matchups. Their 17th game is against the NFC South. That means games the Browns will be facing the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Chiefs, in addition to the Miami Dolphins, outside the division. All those teams made the playoffs last season, as did AFC North foes home-and-away Pittsburgh and Baltimore. 

The Browns seek to a full healthy season from QB Deshaun Watson. Last year, Watson underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in November. He only made six starts last season, coming off his NFL suspension. The Browns expect him to be ready for Week 1. 

The NFC South remains the league’s softest division, at least when it comes to strength of schedule. The Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints are tied for the weakest schedule this season, with their opponents having a combined .453 winning percentage. 

Four of the five softest schedules in the NFL belong to the NFC South teams. 

The NFC South is matched up with the AFC East and AFC West this year in terms of its inter- and interdivisional matchups. Its 17th game will be played against the AFC North, as noted above. 

How The NFL Schedule Is Determined

The current NFL scheduling formula was first implemented in 2002 and the 17th regular-season game was added in 2021.

Here are the factors used in determining each team’s schedule. 

  • 3 home and 3 away games each division opponents 
  • 4 games from another division within its conference on a rotating, three-year cycle 
  • 4 games from a division in the other conference on a rotating, four-year cycle 
  • 2 intraconference games based on the previous year’s standings. These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched the same way each year.
  • 1 interconference game based on the prior year’s standings on a rotating 4-year cycle. These games match a first-place team from one division against a first-place team in an opposite-conference division that the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in each division are matched in the same way each year. The home conference for this game will rotate.

Here is how the schedule rotation by division falls this season. 

AFC

EAST

Intraconference

AFC SOUTH

Interconference

NFC WEST

17th game

NFC NORTH

AFC

NORTH

Intraconference

AFC WEST

Interconference

NFC EAST

17th game

NFC SOUTH

AFC

SOUTH

Intraconference

AFC EAST

Interconference

NFC NORTH

17th game

NFC EAST

AFC

WEST

Intraconference

AFC NORTH

Interconference

NFC SOUTH

17th game

NFC WEST

NFC

EAST

Intraconference

NFC SOUTH

Interconference

AFC NORTH

17th game

AFC SOUTH

NFC

NORTH

Intraconference

NFC WEST

Interconference

AFC SOUTH

17th game

AFC EAST

NFC

SOUTH

Intraconference

NFC EAST

Interconference

AFC WEST

17th game

AFC NORTH

NFC

WEST

Intraconference

NFC NORTH

Interconference

AFC EAST

17th game

AFC WEST

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About the Author

Bill Speros for Bookies.com
Bill Speros
Bill Speros is an award-winning journalist and editor whose career includes stops at USA Today Sports Network / Golfweek, Cox Media, ESPN, Orlando Sentinel and Denver Post.