Washington Commanders News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Washington Commanders brain trust Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Washington Commanders 2024 NFL schedule analysis

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated 5/17/24

The 2024 NFL regular-season schedule has finally been released and based on Washington's opponents, the Commanders are in better shape than they were last year.

Last year, Washington opened with the league’s eighth-most difficult schedule per NFL research. This year, they’re tied with the Bengals, Chiefs and Vikings for the league’s 24th-toughest schedule, set to face opponents that put in a combined .502 winning percentage last season.

Here’s what stands out about the Commanders schedule:

Circle the date | Week 8, Sunday, Oct. 27: For the second year in a row, quarterbacks taken with the top two picks in the draft will square off in the regular season when Washington welcomes the Chicago Bears to FedEx Field. In 2023, No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young led the Carolina Panthers to a late-October victory over the Houston Texans and C.J. Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Jayden Daniels vs. Caleb Williams @MarcRoss can't wait to see the top two picks in the Draft match up when Bears visit the Commanders in 2024. pic.twitter.com/onD5N2L29t
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) May 4, 2024

This year, top pick Caleb Williams hopes to do the same against Heisman winner Jayden Daniels, the second pick from April's player-selection process. That could be easier said than done as only Oregon’s Bo Nix had more touchdown passes (45) than LSU’s Daniels last season (40.) Williams led the FBS with 42 scoring passes in 2022 but won’t have Malik Nabers or Brian Thomas to throw to in 2024.

Toughest stretch | Weeks 3-6: After winning two straight division titles, the 2023 Cincinnati Bengals finished last in the AFC North thanks to a wrist injury suffered by quarterback Joe Burrow in Week 11. While he hasn’t been cleared to play, he is practicing and could be a problem for the NFL’s worst secondary in a Week 3 road game.

Then the Commanders travel to Arizona to face off with a Cardinals team that also finished last in their division this past season while quarterback Kyler Murray recovered from an ACL tear suffered in 2022. Arizona went 3-5 after his Week 10 debut, but this year he gets to throw to Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., the team’s first draft pick.

After that it’s back home to face Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns before heading to Baltimore to play the Ravens and NFL MVP Lamar Jackson in Week 6.

Easiest stretch | Weeks 7-9: After the Ravens game, the Commanders return for a pair of home games against the Panthers and Bears before heading to New York to face the Giants.

Carolina won two games last season and will start the season with a new head coach in Dave Canales while Chicago won seven games and has a new starting quarterback in Caleb Williams. New York has the same old quarterback but lost running back Saquon Barkley to the Eagles in free agency.

Payback | Week 18 at Dallas Cowboys: The Commanders were outscored 83-20 by the Cowboys last year. Dallas won the NFC East with a 12-5 record while Washington went 4-13 to finish last for the second-straight year. No team gave up more points per game (30.5) than Washington last year, something new head coach and former Cowboys defensive coordinator Quinn will try to fix against his old team.

More must-reads: