NFL power rankings, Week 0: What to make of Cowboys, Dolphins, Bills teams that aren't quite trustworthy?

Our long, national nightmare is nearly over. On September 5, the Baltimore Ravens will travel west to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of last year’s AFC Conference Championship.

The Thursday night game will kick off the first week of the 2024 NFL regular season. Months of roster building and practice sessions have led to this; a 32-team race that will, eventually, whittle this year’s field of contenders down to 14, then eight, four, two and finally one world champion.

That six month offseason has provided plenty of time to reflect on each franchise and their shot to be the last team standing. After processing these deals, trades and draft picks then watching entirely too many preseason and training camp snaps, we’re ready to make some informed judgments, many of which will be shockingly wrong. That last part isn’t intentional, by the way. It’s just the nature of a hard salary cap and a league that values parity almost as much as it does jamming games into your holiday schedule.

Let’s take one last look at the pre-2024 NFL and how each team is slated to perform before the season kicks off Thursday.