5 NFL Teams Set Up for Hot Start to the 2024 NFL Season

Evey coach will tell you that it isn't how you start, it's how you finish. Yet, every coach would also tell you that sitting with a losing record four weeks into a season is a stressful place to be.

Even the most successful teams are bound to experience ebbs and flows in an 18-game season. A bad start isn't necessarily a season-ender, but it sure does help to get some early momentum and confidence by starting the year with a win streak.

There are a lot of factors that go into a hot start to the season. Health can play a major role. Having the continuity that allows key players to start in a system they are familiar with and an easier schedule are all things that could help teams get off to a hot start.

Here, we'll take a look at five teams who have a couple of factors that could break their way and lead to a strong start to the season.

Detroit Lions

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Amon-Ra St. Brown

The Detroit Lions were on the doorstep of doing something historic last season. A win over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game would have locked up the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance.

That kind of thing can create a hangover that lasts into next season, but that doesn't appear to be the Lions' attitude at training camp. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated just visited the team's training camp and highlighted how well the Lions practice as a team.

Dan Campbell's reputation as a great motivator and leader of his team will be key this season. Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell all got paid this summer.

A focused Lions team will be scary early in the season for a few reasons. For one, the coaching staff is largely intact. Campbell is still the CEO of the staff, Aaron Glenn returns as defensive coordinator while Ben Johnson remains in his post as offensive coordinator despite head coach interest from other teams.

That continuity and attitude should help them jump to a good lead in the NFC North. They have the Rams in the season opener, but they don't play a team that is ranked in the top 10 teams of our training camp power rankings until Week 9 when they travel to Lambeau Field to play the Packers.

The Lions might have been considered a breakout team in 2023, but they have an early path to show they are back as a Super Bowl threat early in 2024.

Green Bay Packers

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Jordan Love

The Green Bay Packers are just now building the kind of continuity on offense that should sustain them for the foreseeable future. They gave Jordan Love a four-year contract extension after becoming the youngest team to make the playoffs in 1978 and brought back nearly all of that core.

Matt LaFleur and Adam Stenavich return as the primary coaches on offense, but Jeff Hafley is taking over as defensive coordinator. There will be significant changes to iron out at all levels as they switch to a 4-3 base defense.

Fortunately for them, the schedule shapes up to give them a runway to figure things out.

They open the season against the Eagles on the road, but Philadelphia will be breaking in a new offensive and defensive coordinator after last season's collapse. After that, it's the Colts, Titans, Vikings, Rams and Cardinals.

There's a case to be made that the young Packers should be a favorite in all of those games.

That's where the margin for error ends, though. The Packers season could well hinge on the next seven games. Mike Clay's projections for ESPN give them less than 50 percent chance to win in all but one game.

A strong start could give the Packers confidence they need to at least get to 3-4 in those games and remain in the hunt for a home playoff game.

Kansas City Chiefs

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Patrick Mahomes

The Kansas City Chiefs were a testament to how important getting off to a good start can be last season. After dropping their season opener to the Detroit Lions, they ripped off six consecutive wins before their next loss and went into their bye week with a 7-2 record.

The early winning gave them a lot of margin for error down the stretch. They ended up needing it as they went through a rough patch where they went 2-4 coming out of the bye.

The Chiefs are in a position where they should be able to get out ahead of the pack early in the season again.

The Chiefs have continuity in nearly every spot that matters. The coaching staff didn't undergo major changes. Matt Nagy in his second stint as offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has set up shop there for six seasons now.

Kansas City does have a few things to figure out. Kingsley Suamataia and Wanya Morris are competing for the left tackle spot. The receiver room is still a bit ambiguous and L'Jarius Sneed's presence will be missed in the secondary.

Back-to-back AFC North matchups against the Ravens and Bengals to start the season could be a tough pairing, but they get the Falcons, Chargers and Saints. All three of those teams are looking to make the playoffs after missing them last season.

Then the Chiefs get a bye week before a huge matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. It won't be surprising if they go into that game with an undefeated record or just one loss.

Miami Dolphins

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Tyreek Hill

The Dolphins were one of the best teams at beating bad teams in style last season. They infamously struggled to beat teams with winning records while thrashing those who didn't have winning records.

Their ability to get over that hump will be a huge question, but we arne't going to get much opportunity to see it early. The Fins start off with two home games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Bills.

The Bills are obviously not a walk in the park, but they are going through plenty of transitions that could impact them early in the season. Stefon Diggs, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Gabe Davis and others were either traded away, released or otherwise gone.

There's also the fact that this game is home to soften the blow of hanging to play the Bills early in the season. That could be enough to impact the outcome as the Dolphins first meeting in Buffalo last season was a disaster, but the season finale in Miami was a 21-14 loss in which Josh Allen conducted two late drives to win it.

The Seahawks, Titans and Patriots make the final stretch before the bye week, but it doesn't get much harder after that stretch. The Colts, Cardinals and Bills are up next. The Dolphins just paid Tua Tagovailoa a record amount to help this team continually have one of the best offenses in the league.

The Dolphins high-octage offense should have plenty or opportunity to get things going.

New York Jets

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Aaron Rodgers

Remember last year when the Detroit Lions upset the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 in 2023? It was a tone-setting victory for a team that was looking for respect.

This year, the New York Jets will be out for a similar win in Week 1. They'll kick off the Monday Night Football schedule with a matchup against the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers.

If the Jets are able to pull off the upset with a healthy Aaron Rodgers and their fierce defense, the table will be set for one of the hottest starts in the league.

The next three teams on the schedule are the Titans, Patriots and Broncos. The Titans are rebuilding under a new head coach, the Patriots will likely be starting Jacoby Brissett at quarterback and the Jets know how bad it looks that the Broncos have a quarterback competition involving Zach Wilson right now.

The schedule is light after that Niners opener and it never really ramps up. After all, the Jets have the fourth-easiest schedule based on Warren Sharp's analysis of team win totals in betting markets.

All of this still hinges on Rodgers' form at 40 years old fresh off a torn Achilles. But the stars are aligned for the Jets to really push for one of the top seeds in the AFC by scheduling alone.