Here’s the just-released schedule and my impressions about it.
Preseason Schedule
Fri., Aug. 9 – Philadelphia, 7:30, WMAR TV-2
Sat., Aug. 17 – Atlanta, noon, WBAL-TV 11
Sat., Aug. 24 – at Green Bay, 1, WBAL-TV 11
Regular Season Schedule with AFC North Opponents
and Media-Related Notations in Bold
Thur., Sept. 5 – at Kansas City, 8:20, NBC
Sun., Sept. 15 – Las Vegas, 1, CBS
Sun., Sept. 22 – at Dallas, 4:25, Fox-f
Sun., Sept. 29 – Buffalo, 8:20, NBC
xy-Sun., Oct. 6 – at Cincinnati, 1, CBS
xy-Sun., Oct. 13 – Washington, 1, CBS-c
xy-Mon., Oct. 21 – at Tampa Bay, 8:15, ESPN-a
xy-Sun., Oct. 27 – at Cleveland, 1, CBS
xy-Sun., Nov. 3 – Denver, 1, CBS
xy-Thurs., Nov. 7 – Cincinnati, 8:15, Amazon
xy-Sun., Nov. 17 – at Pittsburgh, 1, CBS
xy-Mon., Nov. 25 – at Los Angeles Chargers, 8:15, ESPN-a
xy-Sun., Dec. 1 – Philadelphia, 4:25, CBS-c
xy-Sun., Dec. 8 – BYE
xy-Sun., Dec. 15 – at New York Giants, 1, CBS
Sat., Dec. 21 – Pittsburgh, 4:30, Fox-f
Wed., Dec. 25 – at Houston, 4:30, Netflix-a
DATE TBA – Cleveland, time, network TBA
x – game date and time are subject to change due to Sunday-night flex
y – game date and time are subject to Thursday-night flex
f – game cross-flexed from CBS to Fox
c – game cross-flexed from Fox to CBS
a – possible pickup by local Baltimore affiliate
Postseason Schedule
Sat.-Mon., Jan. 11-13 – Wild Card Weekend, date/time TBA (NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN/ABC)
Sat.-Sun., Jan. 18-19 – Divisional Playoffs, date/time TBA (NBC, CBS, Fox, ESPN/ABC)
Sun., Jan. 26 – AFC Championship Game, 6:40 p.m. (CBS)
Sun., Feb. 9 – SUPER BOWL 59 (LIX); AFC champion (visitor) vs. NFC champion (home); Caesars Superdome; New Orleans; 6:30 p.m. (Fox)
Here’s What I Think About the ’24 Schedule
1. For a second straight year, the Ravens will play no games against teams coming off their byes in 2024. Two of the three return (second) games against the AFC North teams will be at home. However, the Ravens lost two home return games to Cleveland and Pittsburgh last year.
2. Due to the bye week, a Saturday game, and prime-time games on Monday and Thursday, the Ravens will have a team-record seven “open Sundays.” Most of them will be in the second half, with a possible eighth one coming on the season’s final weekend once the date and time of the Cleveland home game is determined.
3. The team has been quite fortunate in recent years to have a bye week that fell pretty much in the middle of the schedule, but this year, it comes in December. Last year’s bye also came in December, but it might be worth recalling that in the team’s 2000 championship season, the Ravens also had their week off in December before clinching a playoff spot the following week.
4. Perhaps the biggest change to the flex program came last year by adding Monday or Thursday nights to the eligible landing spots. Previously, games could only be flexed into and out of the Sunday night window, but now the same can happen for Monday and Thursday nights as well. The schedule-flex program, as it pertains to the Sunday night slot, begins, as usual, in Week Five. All teams, no matter their market size or national profile, are allowed a maximum of five prime-time games (defined as games that kick off after 6 p.m. Eastern time). Late-season games that kick off at 4:25 p.m. are not considered prime-time games, even if sunset has already occurred at the game site.
5. The interconference placement game, a new addition to the schedule for all teams in 2021, will be hosted by the NFC teams in 2024; the AFC teams got hosting privileges in 2023. The AFC North is being paired up with the NFC South this year, so Tampa Bay, which finished first in its division as the Ravens finished first in theirs, will be hosting Baltimore in 2024. It’s not much of a consolation prize, but in even-numbered seasons like this, when the NFC gets the extra home regular-season game, all AFC teams get the extra home preseason game.
6. The Ravens will have 12 of their 17 games against teams with winning records in 2023 and 10 games against 2023 playoff teams. The Ravens’ two games against teams with winning records that did not make the playoffs are the two home-and-home AFC North matchups with Cincinnati, which finished 9-8 despite taking last place in the division…
7. The Ravens will play 13 of their 17 games in the Eastern time zone in 2024; in 2023, 14 of their 17 games took place in the Eastern time zone. New Orleans was the only exception in 2022 when a franchise-record 16 games took place in the Eastern zone. There are three trips to the country’s midsection (Houston, Kansas City, and Dallas) and just one to the West Coast (Los Angeles Chargers).
8. Using the 2023 records of the team’s 2024 opponents, Baltimore has the NFL’s second-toughest schedule in 2024 (12th-easiest last year). It is also the second-toughest of the four AFC North Division teams, trailing only division rival Cleveland, which has the league’s toughest schedule. That ranking will certainly change, depending on how the 2024 season plays out, and that season’s figures are used instead of those from 2023. For example, the Ravens began the 2020 season with the league’s easiest schedule, but when the 2020 records were factored in at the end of the season, it turned out to be tied for the 16th-easiest.
9. A team’s finish determines the two placement games against AFC opponents during the previous season. The Ravens finished first in the AFC North in 2023. -0-0—–Placement opponents are defined as those who had the same finish in the standings as did the Ravens in divisions from the same conference the Ravens aren’t already playing in their entirety in the coming year. Since the Ravens do not play the entire AFC East or AFC South in 2024, that is why the games against fellow division winners Buffalo (home) and Houston (away) are on the 2024 schedule.
10. Per the league schedule rotation, the Ravens will play the entire AFC West and NFC East in 2024. Game sites are determined by where the teams met last time those divisions met in their entirety; previous placement-game sites are irrelevant.
11. The Ravens have never won a regular-season game in Minnesota, the only franchise remaining Baltimore has not defeated on the road. Baltimore got its first-ever regular-season win in New England in 2022. In 2021, they got their first-ever win in Chicago. The Ravens have never won in Las Vegas but have defeated the Raiders franchise in Oakland several times. Per the schedule rotation, the Ravens’ next attempt to win in Minnesota will come in 2025.
12. Four of the Ravens’ games have been cross-flexed this year, including the home games against Pittsburgh, Washington, Philadelphia and the road game at Dallas. Games where an NFC team is the visitor are usually shown on Fox but can be cross-flexed to CBS; games where an AFC team is the visitor can be moved in the opposite direction.
13. This year, the Ravens will play 14 of their 17 games with opponents against which they hold a head-to-head regular-season advantage. The exceptions are the two games against Pittsburgh (24-32) and the opener at Kansas City (4-7). All-time, the Ravens hold a head-to-head regular-season advantage against 22 of the other 31 teams. They trail against eight and are tied with one (Tennessee).
14. Fortunately, the Ravens do not have three straight road games placed on this year’s schedule, but they also do not have three straight at home. The last time both of those occurrences happened was just a year ago when the Ravens won two straight road games in the season’s first half and two of the three straight home contests in the season’s second half.
15. Baltimore-based NFL teams have played on Thanksgiving Day in 1965 (Colts at Detroit), 2011 (San Francisco at Ravens), and 2013 (Pittsburgh at Ravens). The Ravens’ scheduled 2020 Thanksgiving night game at Pittsburgh was postponed due to the pandemic, and the team’s road game in Detroit in 2021 was not scheduled for the holiday. However, since the Thanksgiving night game is not governed by a traditional afternoon site (Detroit early, Dallas late), there was a chance that any of the Ravens’ 2024 games could have been scheduled for Thanksgiving evening.
