After two straight years of the Ravens playing on the road on Christmas, it’s unlikely they will do so again this year.

They are, however, headed back to Orchard Park, New York, where quarterback Lamar Jackson will face off against reigning NFL Most Valuable Player and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen in a rematch of last season’s divisional round showdown in which Baltimore’s Super Bowl hopes ended in nightmarish fashion.

Though Baltimore’s home and away opponents are already known, the NFL will announce its full schedule Wednesday night, with select matchups trickling out beginning Monday morning.

Last season, Baltimore had the league’s second-toughest schedule (based on opponents’ 2023 win percentage) and finished 12-5 and as AFC North champs. This year, the schedule makers were a bit kinder with the ninth-most difficult slate, though it does include eight teams that made the playoffs last season.

Here are five things to know about this year’s Ravens schedule:

Who will the Ravens play at home?: Baltimore will host nine games at M&T Bank Stadium after having eight regular-season games there last year.

In addition to the usual three against the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns, they’ll also play the Rams for a third time in four years in Baltimore. The Ravens split their last two meetings with Los Angeles, which included a wild 37-36 walk-off win on Tylan Wallace’s punt return for a touchdown in overtime in 2023.

Other home games include two against teams from the NFC North — the Detroit Lions, who went 15-2 last season, and the Chicago Bears — and two from the AFC East — the New York Jets and New England Patriots. They’ll also play the Texans for a fourth time since 2023, which included last season’s 31-2 Christmas blowout in Houston and 34-10 divisional round rout at M&T Bank Stadium during the 2023 season.

Who will the Ravens play on the road?: Much of the difficulty of Baltimore’s schedule can be attributed to its road opponents this year.

For the second straight year, the Ravens will travel to Arrowhead Stadium, where they will play the three-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs. They’ll also return to the site of last season’s heartbreaking divisional round loss to the Bills with another game at Highmark Stadium.

Baltimore will travel to Lambeau Field to play the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota to face the Vikings.

Those four teams combined for a 53-15 record last season, and all four teams made the playoffs.

The Ravens will also play the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium, 30 minutes south of where Jackson grew up. It will mark the fourth meeting between the teams over the past five years with the Dolphins winning in both 2021 and 2022.

How many prime-time games will the Ravens have?: As long as Jackson is playing quarterback, the NFL is likely to showcase him a healthy amount in prime time.

Last season, Baltimore had five nationally televised night games. That included the league’s kickoff opener against the Chiefs, which Kansas City won, 27-20, after Isaiah Likely was ruled out of bounds in the back of the end zone on a potential game-tying touchdown as time expired.

This year, there’s no shortage of possible opponents for a similar number of prime-time games.

In addition to games with the Chiefs and Bills, a showdown against the Packers and their star quarterback Jordan Love would be appealing, as would Baltimore’s game against Detroit, which would showcase two of the game’s top offenses from a season ago. The Rams and quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Dolphins and at least one divisional opponent are also potential options.

Will the Ravens have an international, Christmas or Thanksgiving game?: Though Baltimore signed a United Kingdom marketing deal this offseason, that doesn’t mean an immediate trip overseas.

Only three of the Ravens’ opponents are slated to host an international game, and two of those (Steelers in Ireland; Browns in London) are divisional games. The NFL has played just three division games outside the United States since it started its international series, and Baltimore is not among the teams scheduled to be the host team for an international game.

That leaves the Dolphins, who will host a game in Spain this season, though the Commanders and Bengals have been most linked as their potential opponents in Madrid.

As for Christmas, after two straight road games on the holiday, it’s unlikely the league would make it a hat trick. Thanksgiving, however, could potentially be an option.

Baltimore has played on Thanksgiving just twice and not since 2013 as defending Super Bowl champions against the Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium. The Ravens’ other Thanksgiving game was in 2011 in the first “Harbaugh Bowl” when John’s brother Jim was the coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

Baltimore won both games at home.

Which teams have the toughest and easiest schedules?: The New York Giants had the third-worst record in the league last season. Their reward: The NFL’s toughest schedule.

The Giants’ opponents had a .574 winning percentage last season, and in addition to games against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and Commanders, who reached the NFC championship game, their schedule also includes matchups against the Chiefs, Lions, Vikings, Packers and Los Angeles Chargers.

The league’s easiest schedule, meanwhile, belongs to the San Francisco 49ers, who are coming off a 6-11 season and whose opponents had a winning percentage of just .415 last season.

The Ravens, as mentioned, have the ninth-hardest schedule with their opponents having combined for a .533 winning percentage last season. The only teams Baltimore faces that didn’t make the playoffs last season are the Bengals, Browns, Patriots, Jets, Dolphins and Bears.

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker @baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.