LIVE NFL schedule release day 2024: Houston Texans reveal 17-game slate, including Ravens on Christmas, Dallas Cowboys

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) —They’ll be home for Christmas. You can count on them.

Hours before the NFL let loose the highly anticipated full 2024 season schedule, the league sent the Houston Texans and their fans an early holiday present – one of the two Christmas Day games this year.

The team announced it will host the reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens at NRG Stadium on Wednesday, Dec. 25.

The only other game that day will be the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers. Both games will be stream-exclusive.

Tickets for the holiday feud will go on sale once the rest of the schedule is released on Wednesday evening, the Texans said.

Join ABC13 right now on the Texans’ schedule release day. Watch our Houston Texans Schedule Announcement Special on the ABC13 Houston 24/7 Streaming Channel in the video player above.

Houston already drafted their rookies, signed and traded for veteran talent, and even got new wardrobe in anticipation of the schedule release.

On Wednesday, the defending AFC South champions and the rest of the NFL is learn their hopeful path to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans on schedule release day.

The Texans already knew who they would face in the sophomore year of the C.J. Stroud-Will Anderson-DeMeco Ryans era. Because they finished first in the division, the Texans drew the other AFC division titleholders, including the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.

The team also knew it would take on teams in the AFC East and NFC North by virtue of the inter- and intra-conference rotation.

To make things interesting, the league worked out a Houston vs. Dallas Cowboys matchup as each team’s 17th-game opponent.

And, of course, the Texans have their three AFC South rivals twice on the calendar.

2024 could mark a change for a team on the come-up. A year after having every game but one scheduled on Sunday afternoon, the rising Texans are confirmed to be seen by a national audience. Who could say no to the first Stroud vs. Mahomes matchup?

If you need a refresher, here are the pre-determined opponents and a note about each matchup:

Home

• Indianapolis Colts: Split 2023 series, lost to Colts at home.
• Jacksonville Jaguars: Split 2023 series, lost to Jags at home.
• Tennessee Titans: Swept 2023 series.
• Detroit Lions: Last faced off on Thanksgiving 2020; Detroit is an NFC championship game finalist.
• Buffalo Bills: Last hosted Bills in a wild-card game thriller in 2020.
• Miami Dolphins: Last hosted Dolphins in the 2018 season.
• Chicago Bears: Earned 2023 No. 1 pick over Houston before trading it.
• Baltimore Ravens: Third-ever Stroud-Lamar Jackson matchup, but first time in Houston.

Away

• Indianapolis Colts
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• Tennessee Titans
• New England Patriots: Houston 3-9 vs. the Pats, but winners of two of the last three matchups.
• New York Jets: Team returns to MetLife Stadium a season removed from Stroud’s concussion game.
• Kansas City Chiefs: Stroud’s first-ever matchup against Patrick Mahomes.
• Dallas Cowboys: Stroud’s first-ever matchup against team up north.
• Green Bay Packers: Matchup pits Stroud with another young rising signal-caller, Jordan Love.
• Minnesota Vikings: Houston is winless against the Vikes in five games all-time.