We're going to learn the 18-week schedule for all 32 NFL teams this week as the league has set its annual schedule release for Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. As of Monday, we know exactly two games: the Chiefs will open the season on Thursday night of Week 1 by hosting the Ravens in a rematch of last year's AFC Championship, and the Eagles and Packers will play the league's first ever game in Brazil the following day.

Sportsbooks have posted lines for both those known Week 1 games, with the Chiefs favored by 2.5 to 3 points against the Ravens and the Eagles a 1.5-point favorite against the Packers. Once the schedule is announced, they'll quickly do the same for every other Week 1 game. And that means bettors will have an opportunity to pounce on mispriced lines if they're ready to act.

Professional NFL bettors prepare for the schedule release by creating or updating their NFL power ratings, a system that helps savvy bettors become proactive instead of reactive when it comes to preparing for the books to release their lines for Week 1 and every Sunday during the NFL season. By taking into consideration every facet of each team's offseason and adjusting their final ratings from last year to account for free agency, the draft, coaching moves, players returning from injury and everything else that had changed, bettors are able to generate a spread for every potential NFL matchup and know how they would set the line if they were running the show at the sportsbooks.

How can you be ready to attack the Week 1 lines as soon as they're released? I'll share my personal initial 2024 NFL spread power ratings below, but creating a power ratings system is something even casual bettors can accomplish. We'll explain before jumping into my ratings, which you can use to generate my initial projected lines for Week 1 as soon as the matchups are released. 

Which teams are projected to be much better in Week 1 than they were at the end of the 2023 season? And are any teams capable of joining the Chiefs and 49ers in the top tier of the NFL? ... Join SportsLine right now to see initial NFL schedule release power ratings from the expert who's 636-534-34 on ATS picks from 2017-23, returning $4,899 to $100 players!