The 2024 NFL season is fast approaching, with some final hurdles cleared on the calendar including training camp, preseason and roster cuts. The Kansas City Chiefs’ quest for an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl championship begins on Thursday, September 5 at 8:20pm ET on NBC against the Baltimore Ravens.
Yahoo Sports is here to help you prepare for fall, so let’s get started.
Where can I watch Yahoo Sports’ 2024 NFL season preview?
Hosted by Yahoo Sports’ Caroline Fenton and featuring Yahoo experts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald and DraftKings’ Mike Golic Jr., you can watch the full show here.
What’s new in the NFL this season?
Thanks for your question. Frank Schwab here with what you need to know.
Star players in new positions
It will take some time for star players to get used to wearing the new uniforms.
While New York Giants fans (and Giants co-owner John Mara, according to “Hard Knocks”) might be feeling a bit put off by seeing Saquon Barkley donning Philadelphia Eagles green this season, there are a few other familiar stars who look strange on their new teams this season.
Here are some of the big name players who have moved teams this offseason.
New head coaches and the ideas they bring
A quarter of NFL teams will have new head coaches this season.
The numbers are lower for anyone other than Antonio Pierce, who took over as interim head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after Josh McDaniels was fired last season. Pierce led the team to a 5-4 record before taking over as permanent head coach in January.
(Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports)
With or without Pierce, the transition speaks to growing impatience among NFL team owners, and every new coach should realize they’re in a tough spot if they don’t win in their first two seasons.
Here’s a look at all eight new head coaches heading into the 2024 NFL season and what changes they will bring to each team.
Schedule and broadcast changes involving Tom Brady
In 2023, the NFL took 93 spots among the top 100 most-watched programs on television, meaning we never get bored of watching NFL games on television.
The NFL adjusts its schedule every year to take its broadcast partners into account. Here are the most significant changes to the NFL schedule and broadcast this season:
What happened to the new kickoff rules?
One statistic sums up how the approach to the new kickoff rules has changed: In the first week of preseason, 82% of kickoffs were returned. That dropped to 74% in week two and 57% in week three (per Greg Auman of Fox Sports). The 25% change from week one to week three is telling.
Coming for the Kingdom
The Kansas City Chiefs are trying to do something no team has ever accomplished before: win three consecutive Super Bowls.
The rest of the NFL is trying to stop them.
Here are some key elements of the Chiefs’ success that will likely play a role in their quest once again and may offer clues for other teams trying to dethrone the NFL’s crown.
(Stefan Milic/Yahoo Sports)
How Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo is embarrassing the NFL and the Shanahan Tree
The Kansas City Chiefs offense was inconsistent last year — sure, they won a Super Bowl, finished in the top 10 in every underlying metric, and Patrick Mahomes is still Patrick Mahomes — but they just aren’t a reliably efficient unit every week in 2023.
The Chiefs’ Super Bowl run was anchored by a defense led by coordinator and longtime coach Steve Spagnuolo, whose defense in Kansas City was more of an afterthought for the Chiefs’ overall leadership.
Spagnuolo’s experience calling plays for dozens of offensive lines also gives him aspects of his defense that make him a perfect fit for the current NFL landscape: He has a special answer for offensive lines that stem from the Shanahan tree, a tree that’s currently popular in the NFL.
The last three attempts to win the championship in a row have failed due to aging, bad luck and owner interference.
“The NFL season is a marathon,” Tom Brady told Yahoo Sports, “and throughout that long season, a lot of things have to go right — injuries, bouncing the ball the right way, attacking your team the right way, getting in the right position for the playoffs — and the same thing has to happen when you get to the playoffs. You have to get the right luck. You have to attack your team at the right time.”
“It’s hard enough to win one Super Bowl,” Brady said. “It’s really hard to win two. Win three in a row? There’s a reason no one’s done it.”
There are a variety of reasons why no one has done it before. All you have to do is look back in history and open the hood of the eight previous failed attempts. So we did it.
Check back throughout the week through Thursday, September 5th for additional entries.
Names to know
Seven coaches in dire straits
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has earned a reputation for replacing head coaches on a whim, but the opposite is true.
Jones has been very patient with his coaching staff. Dallas has had two head coaches since Jason Garrett took over after Wade Phillips was fired mid-season in 2010: Garrett and Mike McCarthy. Inevitably, the Cowboys would lose in the playoffs and everyone would expect Jones to fire a coach, but he has only fired one coach in 14 years.
That doesn’t mean McCarthy is in the job for life, though. Jones will have to eventually have more playoff success or he’ll be forced to replace him. Does that mean he’s one of seven coaches in hot water heading into the NFL season? Here’s the list:
(Joseph Rains/Yahoo Sports)
10 Breakout Candidates
Not every NFL player can be a CJ Stroud or a Puka Nacua.
These two guys have been great rookies and have become instant stars. Others take longer. Sometimes injuries set them back. Some guys just need playing time to shine.
Every season in the NFL we see veteran breakouts, but here are 10 players who have a great chance to break out in the NFL this season, including two Detroit Lions players and a quarterback from the 2023 draft class.
Check back by Thursday, September 5th to find out more names.
Quarterback Questions
QB Room: 16 questions for NFC starters
Dallas Cowboys: Will this be Dak Prescott’s final game in Dallas?
Welcome to “QB Room,” a new weekly quarterback-centric NFL column by Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson. (Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports)
With CeeDee Lamb’s extension now in place, Prescott’s contract extension will likely hang over the franchise until some sort of solution is found. Cowboys ownership has publicly stated that the contract has no expiration date, but it’s highly unlikely Prescott will reach an agreement once the season begins.
With the Lamb extension negotiations over, Dallas can now focus solely on Prescott until kickoff of Week 1 on September 8. I don’t think it’s a good sign that the Prescott deal didn’t get done while the team was in Oxnard for training camp, but I think the order of things was set up to get the Lamb extension done first, so Prescott’s deal is technically on schedule.
Fans looking for optimism beyond the Lamb deal will be encouraged that Trey Lance proved in the preseason that he’s far from being an NFL starting quarterback, and his five-interception exhibition finale should serve as a not-so-gentle warning to owners about what it would be like to sink back into the depths of a quarterback drought.
Another thought that points to an extension happening within the next 10 days is that Dallas doesn’t have a clear Plan B at the position if Prescott leaves the team in free agency. Potential scenarios cost assets and money and still involve significant risk (see Denver’s trade for Russell Wilson in 2022). The obvious move with the least risk is still to sign Prescott to an extension, just like they have done over the past year.
Read Charles Robinson’s thoughts on each NFC team’s QB situation.
Check back on Tuesday, September 3rd for more on AFC.
Four Vert
The four most important players in the NFL season
(Stefan Milic/Yahoo Sports)
Just one more week, just a little more sleep: the Ravens and Chiefs kick off the new NFL season in a matter of days, and the race to New Orleans for Super Bowl 59 begins.
As we enter the calm before the storm, let’s take a look at four players who will be some of the most important players in the NFL and how their presence will shape the landscape of the league: This group includes big-time QBs in new situations, anchors who spearhead explosive attacks, and under-the-radar stars who could make a big difference to a championship defense.
Check back on Wednesday, September 4th for the four stories Charles MacDonald is most looking forward to.
How to watch the 2024 NFL season
Your complete guide to watching the NFL season
Here are details on the platforms we recommend you check out ahead of the 2024 NFL season, so that you can easily watch your favorite teams in action by simply turning on your TV when it’s game time.
Here’s a quick rundown of the broadcast schedule for week 1.
Thursday, September 5, 2024
Friday, September 6, 2024
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Monday, September 9, 2024
Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast
We’ve revamped our NFL Podcast lineup with new shows, new groups and a new schedule. Subscribe wherever you love, whether it’s Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube.
Nate Theis and Matt Harmon Tuesday
Thursday with Nate Tice and Charles McDonald
McCoy and Van Noy
Gerald McCoy and Kyle Van Noy’s Tuesday
Inside Coverage
Sunday Night with Jason Fitts and Frank Schwab
Jason Fitz and Jori Epstein Wednesday
Jason Fitz and Charles Robinson Friday