Every offseason, there seems to be more and more change throughout the NFL, which often results in more and more opportunities for revenge.
There is plenty of that to start off the 2024 regular season. Here are the four best revenge games of Week 1:
4. New York Jets at San Francisco 49ers (Sept. 9)
This one may not jump off the screen right away, but the deeper you look into it, the more it’ll make sense.
Aaron Rodgers had Jets fans feeling hopeful once again ahead of the 2023 season. However, after just four offensive plays in the season opener on “Monday Night Football,” the veteran quarterback was taken down and suffered a torn Achilles.
That was against the Buffalo Bills a year ago, but the player that brought Rodgers down was linebacker Leonard Floyd, who is now a member of the 49ers.
Rodgers, 40, has had a full season and offseason to get healthy, so he must now put his Achilles injury behind him in his return to the field on “Monday Night Football” with Floyd lining up across from him once again.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers at Atlanta Falcons (Sept. 8)
Players aren’t the only factor when it comes to revenge games.
The Falcons fired Arthur Smith following their third straight 7-10 season with him as their head coach.
Smith’s tenure in Atlanta was disappointing, as he was highly criticized for his usage of the team’s top playmakers in running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts.
However, he wasn’t a free agent for long, as less than a month later, the Steelers hired him to be their new offensive coordinator.
This offseason, Smith has been retooling Pittsburgh’s offense, which has been one of the worst units in the league for the past couple of years.
He now gets to prove he’s still the talented offensive-minded coach he was when he helped lead the Tennessee Titans to the AFC title game in a trip to face his former team.
2. Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions (Sept. 8)
These two teams faced off in the wild-card round of the playoffs last season.
It was quarterback Matthew Stafford’s return to Detroit for the first time since being traded to the Rams in exchange for quarterback Jared Goff. However, it was Goff and the Lions who got their revenge in a 24-23 win, ending Los Angeles’ 2023 campaign.
Both teams are now looking to pick up where they left off last season as contenders in the NFC.
Will Goff make the Rams regret trading him once again while coming off a four-year, $212M contract extension, or can Stafford finally get his revenge on the Lions on “Sunday Night Football?”
1. Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs (Sept. 5)
The kickoff to the 2024 regular season could be the best game of the year.
Just about seven months ago, the Chiefs ended the Ravens’ 2023 season by defeating them 17-10 in the AFC Championship game.
Kansas City ultimately won Super Bowl LVIII and now has a chance to become the first team in NFL history to three-peat.
Baltimore, though, could get its revenge and knock the Chiefs’ plans off track early, improving on quarterback Lamar Jackson’s disappointing 1-4 record against quarterback Patrick Mahomes in his career.
There’s always the added bonus of John Harbaugh having served as a protege to Andy Reid, too.