The 2024 NFL schedule should be released any day now. For reference, it was released on May 11 last year. That's always one of the most exciting days on the offseason calendar, and fans are understandably eager for it.
While we don't yet have the complete schedule, we still know a whole lot about Houston's slate in 2024, including opponents and game locations. While we wait for the official dates to drop, here's a look at three key things to know about Houston's schedule for the upcoming 2024 campaign.
Playoff-level competition
Like all teams, the Texans will play 17 regular season games in 2024. Of those 17 games, seven games will come against playoffs squads from last season. The seven teams they'll face in those games are the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys.
Houston's remaining ten tilts will be against teams that didn't make the playoffs last season. But, that obviously doesn't mean that the Texans can overlook any of those teams, as all have aimed to improve over the offseason. Overall, Houston's 2024 opponents had a very respectable combined record of 152-137 last season.
A difficult home schedule
Some of Houston's toughest tilts in '24 will take place within the friendly confines of NRG Stadium. Out of those seven games against playoff teams from last season, four will be home games for the Texans. The games against the Ravens, Bills, Dolphins and Lions will all take place in Houston. It obviously won't be an easy set of games, but at least Texans fans will be there to provide the team with an added boost.
Caleb Williams, nice to meet you
Houston's 2024 schedule will feature a game against the Bears and the top overall pick from this year's draft, Caleb Williams. That game will also take place in Houston. Williams was just the third No, 1 overall pick in Bears history, so the expectations for the USC product are understandably very high, especially in the Windy City.
Before drafting Williams, Chicago dealt incumbent quarterback Justin Fields to the Steelers, so Williams is expected to take over the starting job from the jump, so Houston's defense should get a first-hand look at him. The Texans had a rookie signal-caller last season in C.J. Stroud, and that worked out pretty well. Now they'll get to face off against one of the more highly-hyped rookie QBs in recent memory.