The 2024 NFL Regular Season Part 1 Quiz

The much-fancied Baltimore Ravens got off to a slow start in 2024, losing their first two games (to the Chiefs and Raiders) before finishing strongly, winning their last four games. They went 4-2 in their division losing narrowly to the Steelers and the Browns but their two wins over the Bengals were by three and one point respectively, both in high-scoring games (41-38 and 35-24 respectively).

The Ravens finished 12-5 to win the AFC North clinching third seed in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh brought in two new quarterbacks in 2024, Russell Wilson from the Broncos and Justin Fields from the Bears. Wilson was the preferred starting QB but was injured in the early part of the season so Fields played as QB for the first six games winning 4-2. Many thought it was brave for Coach Tomlin to replace Fields with Wilson when the latter was fit, but a 37-15 win over the Jets vindicated Tomlin's decision.

At one stage the Steelers were 10-3, well ahead of the second-placed Ravens at 8-5. However, the Steelers faded badly to end with 10-7 (3-3 for the division). Their week 18 two-point loss to the Bengals (19-17) cost them the fifth AFC seed and they slipped to the sixth seed after 17 games.

The Bengals got off to a slow start losing four of their first five (including a one-point loss to the Chiefs 26-25). They improved as the season wore on and were a chance to make the playoffs with a win on their last game which they managed but needed other results go their way.

They didn't, and their winning season of 9-8 (3-3 for the division) meant they came third in the AFC North. Losing six games by one score or less was costly. Winning just one of those six would have earned them a playoff spot.

After making the playoffs in 2023 (11-6), the Cleveland Browns were expected to make the playoffs again in 2024. However, they could only manage three wins for the season (Two of those were against higher-placed divisional rivals, Baltimore and Pittsburgh). Their only other win was against lowly placed Jacksonville. The Browns came a distant last place in the AFC North.

The Texans won their division in 2023 (10-7) scraping the AFC South Division by one win over both Jacksonville and Indianapolis (both 9-8). They were able to win the AFC South more convincingly in 2024 winning 10-7, two wins higher than the Colts. They won their division 5-1 with all five of those being wins of five-point margins or less.

Their biggest win was 34-10 over the Cowboys in Week 11. Their biggest loss was 31-2 against the Ravens in Week 17. They earned the fourth seed in the playoffs.

The Indianapolis Colts earned second place in the AFC South, one spot higher than their 2023 season even though they scored one less win (8--9 in 2024, 9-8 in 2023). This was not enough to clinch a wild-card playoff spot. They did win three of their six divisional games losing to the Texans (twice) and Jacksonville once.

The Jacksonville Jaguars landed in third spot in the AFC South in 2024 despite a poor 4-13 record (They did much better in 2023 with 9-8). They could only defeat stablemates Titans (twice) and Colts (once). The only other win they had was over lowly ranked Patriots.

The Tennessee Titans landed in fourth spot (6-11) in the AFC South in 2023 and were expected to do better in 2024. However, they landed in the fourth spot again but with a worse record (3-14). They had narrow three-point and five-point wins over the Patriots and Texans respectively with their one emphatic win, a 31-12 win over the Dolphins in week 4.

The Bills clinched the AFC East title convincingly in 2024 with a 13-4 record including a win over much fancied conference rivals the Chiefs.. This was an improvement over last season where they won the division 11-6, the same result as the second-placed Dolphins that year.

In 2024, they won their division 5-1, losing in Week 18 with a second-string QB, Mitch Trubisky as they had already been guaranteed of the second seed in the AFC playoffs.

In 2023 the Dolphins earned a second consecutive playoff spot with an 11-6 record. The 2024 seasons looked bright for the Dolphins and they could have scraped into the playoffs with a week 18 win over the Jets and other results going their way. Their 32-20 loss to the Jets in their last game sealed their fate with 8-9 not being enough to get into the playoffs.

This means the Dolphins had not won a playoff match since 2000 which was an AFL record in 2024. They went 3-3 in their division, losing twice to the Bills but beating the Patriots twice.

After the Jets signed star quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2023 only to lose him in the first match, the Jets looked to improve on their 7-10 2023 season. However, they did worse finishing 5-12 for the season with 2-4 in their division. Their best win was an emphatic 32-20 win over divisional rival Dolphins in their last game of the season.

The Patriots have struggled in the post-Brady era but with the appointment of Jerod Mayo as head coach, the club was optimistic it could improve on the 4-13 record in 2023. However, they finished 2024 with the same 4-13 record including a surprise week 18 win over the Bills, 23-16 with a second-string quarterback, Joe Milton III. (This actually cost them the first pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Their other wins were against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1, stablemates New York Jets and the Chicago Bears. Mayo was sacked only a few hours after the Patriots' last game for 2024.

The Kansas City Chiefs, the Super Bowl holders at the start of the season, went 11-6 in 2023. They improved on that in 2024 when they went 15-2. They dropped the last game when they rested many players, as they had already sewn up the division and the number one seed for playoff spots. Apart from the last game, the only game they lost was to conference rival, the Buffalo Bills, 30-21 in Week 11.

They won their division decisively 5-1 but they only won by two points in three of these games with their divisional rivals.

The Chargers were the big improvers of the conference going from 5-12 in 2023 to 11-6 in 2024. They clinched the second spot in the AFC West and a wild-card playoff spot. They won four games in their division losing only to the Chiefs, twice 17-19 and 10-17. Until the last round, it appeared as if they would be the sixth seed for the playoffs but a convincing week 18 win, 34-20, over divisional rivals the Raiders gave them the fifth seed.

In 2023, the Broncos were expected to make the playoffs with Russell Wilson as quarterback and Sean Payton as coach, but fell two wins short at 8-9 resulting in Wilson being released. In 2024 with rookie quarterback Bo Nix, they improved to 10-7 to clinch the number 7 seed on the last game of the season.

They had to beat the Chiefs to do it. The Chiefs rested key playmakers as they had already sewn up the number one seed for the conference. Nevertheless, the Broncos won 38-0. They went 3-3 in their division and beat the Raiders twice but lost both games to the Chargers.

The Las Vegas Raiders came close to playoff contention winning 8-9 in 2023 but could only manage 4-13 in 2024 losing all six of their divisional games. Their best win was in week 2 when they defeated the Ravens 26-23. They placed fourth in the AFC, West six wins behind the third-placed Broncos.