The annual schedule release perfectly indicates how massive the NFL is in American culture. Just announcing the next season’s slate is enough to give us all football fever and start analyzing the upcoming autumn and winter action.
Anything and everything related to the Kansas City Chiefs vigorously moves the needle, no doubt aided by the Taylor Swift factor; so much has already been made of the season-opening rematch of last year’s AFC title game.
However, the Chiefs aren’t the only past AFC championship game opponents that the Ravens will face. Baltimore has reached the AFC final game on five occasions against four opponents. Two of the other three past AFC title game opponents (New England being the other) appear on the schedule this season.
Baltimore’s week two (9/15) opponent is the Raiders, who they beat in the 2001 AFC title game 16-3. As usual, they also have intra-divisional rival Pittsburgh, who beat them twice in the 2009 conference championship, on the docket (week 11, 11/17, and week 16, 12/21).
Additionally, the Ravens’ first Super Bowl win in 2001 (2000 season) came over the New York Giants, who are this year’s opponent, in week 15 on 12/15.
In other words, the 2024 schedule will feature rematches of some of the franchise’s biggest games.