With the preseason in the books and rosters cut down to 53 players, it’s time for the moment every football fan has been waiting for since the final whistle of Super Bowl 58: The start of the 2024 NFL regular season.
With a week of rest over, are there any NFL games today?
With Thursday Night Football primed to begin its 2024 schedule, here’s how to watch the NFL game tonight, including the start time, TV channel, live stream option, and more.
Are There Any NFL Games Today? Thursday Night Football Schedule
Week 1 of the NFL season starts on Thursday night with an appearance by the Super Bowl 58 champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. The NFL Kickoff Game has featured the defending Super Bowl champions since 2004, except in 2019, when the league scheduled a matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears to celebrate the NFL’s 100th season.
The Chiefs will host the Baltimore Ravens at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium to begin the 2024 season. Here’s how to watch the NFL game tonight.
Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs
- Start time: Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, 8:20 p.m. ET
- Channel: NBC
- Live stream options: Peacock
- Radio stations: Ravens Gameday Coverage, 106.5 The Wolf
- Starting QBs: Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes
- Betting lines:
- Spread: KC -3
- Total: 46.5
- Moneyline: KC -155, BAL +130
The preseason saw the Ravens and Chiefs take a long look at the deeper parts of the roster, with the two 2023 playoff teams going a combined 1-5 in the preparations for the 2024 regular season.
Again, both starting quarterbacks sat most of the time, with Ravens QB Lamar Jackson sitting the entire preseason. But that would also be the case for their opponents.
The Chiefs’ offense is ready to soar with its starters in place. The injury to WR Hollywood Brown this preseason was a setback, but Kansas City did reunite with WR JuJu Smith-Schuster on a one-year, $1.21 million contract. He may not be ready in time for Week 1, but the Chiefs will use him to fill the void created by Brown’s injury.
Will Rashee Rice be able to replicate his impressive rookie season? Is the NFL going to suspend him due to his offseason behavior? Will rookie first-round WR Xavier Worthy be ready to step into the pace and play of the NFL regular season? Can one of Justin Watson, Skyy Moore, or Mecole Hardman finally step up to become a more reliable and consistent option in the passing game?
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With so many uncertainties, the Chiefs can at least rest easy knowing they have the best quarterback in the league to diagnose and solve those issues. Also having a reliable running back in Isiah Pacheco and a tight end in Travis Kelce helps alleviate some of the stress on the receivers.
However, unlike last season, they cannot become the primary source of production. If the WRs can improve on last season, this offense will be unstoppable.
As for Baltimore, it’s time to see what one of the NFL’s best rushing attacks since Jackson joined the league in 2018 looks like with one of the greatest running backs of the past five years, Derrick Henry.
Since 2019, Henry has had three seasons rushing for more than 1,500 yards, including topping 2,000 yards in 2020. Since 2018, when he became the Tennessee Titans’ starting RB, he’s scored at least 10 touchdowns per season.
Baltimore has had a few running backs over Jackson’s career, but none have been as reliable or physical as Henry. In fact, for the last five years, Jackson has led Baltimore in rushing yards.
It’s clear that the Ravens’ front office targeted Henry in the offseason to take some weight off of Jackson’s back as he props up the offense on both sides.
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While strengthening the offense was top of mind for Baltimore, the Ravens focused internally on the defensive side despite letting quite a few players walk. LB Patrick Queen signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jadeveon Clowney joined the Carolina Panthers, and safety Geno Stone joined the Cincinnati Bengals, just to name a few.
While the Ravens still have the firepower on offense, significant defensive changes and shuffling across various position groups may have a more considerable effect on the success of the 2024 season than they expect.
With Jackson getting no snaps in the preseason, Baltimore hopes there’s no evident rust in Week 1. Every win counts in a tightly contested division and conference, and getting the head-to-head win could be massive for tiebreakers at the end of the season, as the Ravens and Chiefs have found themselves jostling for seed position over the past few seasons.
Baltimore Ravens Key Stats
- The Ravens trailed for only 19.2% of their offensive snaps last season, the lowest rate since the 2019 Ravens (18.6%).
- Lamar Jackson was the third most accurate red zone passer in 2023 (67.2% complete, league average: 56.1%).
- Offense: The Ravens were the only team to score over 20 points in 13 or more games last regular season
- Defense: The Ravens allowed 26 TDs last season, the fewest for a year since we moved to a 17-game regular season.
Kansas City Chiefs Key Stats
- The Chiefs averaged 5.6 yards per play last season, their lowest rate during the Mahomes era (Mahomes era average: 6.2)
- Patrick Mahomes’ average depth of throw has declined every season. His 6.5 yards ranked ahead of only Joe Burrow among qualifiers last season.
- Offense: The Chiefs had the 4th worst turnover differential in the NFL last season (-11).
- Defense: The Chiefs owned the highest sack rate of 2023 (9.3%, NFL average: 7.1%).
2024 Thursday Night Football Schedule
The Ravens and Chiefs are getting the 2024 NFL regular season started, but they’re just the first of 17 Thursday Night Football contests this season. With 16 more matchups throughout the season, here’s a look at the 2024 Thursday Night Football schedule.
- Week 1: Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs
- Week 2: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins
- Week 3: New England Patriots at New York Jets
- Week 4: Dallas Cowboys at New England Patriots
- Week 5: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons
- Week 6: San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks
- Week 7: Denver Broncos at New Orleans Saints
- Week 8: Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams
- Week 9: Houston Texans at New York Jets
- Week 10: Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
- Week 11: Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles
- Week 12: Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns
- Week 13: Miami Dolphins at Green Bay Packers
- Week 14: Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions
- Week 15: Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers
- Week 16: Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals
- Week 17: Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears