The NFL season is approaching. Here's a look at some of the big games and rules changes

The NFL season begins in less that two weeks when the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 5.

Here's a couple of big storylines as the games that count in the standings rapidly approach:

The Chiefs-Ravens game kicks the season off on a Thursday night and then the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers meet in Sao Paulo on Friday night, Sept. 6, for the first regular season game played in Brazil. It's the first time since 1970 that the NFL has had a Friday night game as part of its opening week schedule.

Most of the Week 1 games will be on Sunday, Sept. 8, followed by the season's first Monday night matchup between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers.

Sept. 8, Rams at Lions: The game features the quarterback matchup of Jared Goff vs. Matthew Stafford. Stafford was the longtime QB for the Lions before getting traded to the Rams for Goff and then leading L.A. to a Super Bowl title in 2022. Goff led the Lions past the Rams in the playoffs last season. Both QBs performed well in last year’s playoff matchup and more fireworks are expected in Week 1.

Sept. 9, Jets at 49ers: This should mark the return of New York quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who lasted just three official snaps last year before an Achilles injury cut his 2023 season short. The four-time MVP will face a tough test against a 49ers defense that's been among the league's best for the past few seasons.

Sept. 15, Bears at Texans: If all goes well, this should be the second NFL game for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, who was taken by the Bears with the No. 1-overall pick out of USC. Williams gets a Week 2 matchup against Texans QB C.J. Stroud, who was the AP's Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023.

Nov. 25, Ravens at Chargers: This one is later in the schedule, but features a coaching matchup between brothers John and Jim Harbaugh. Jim was hired by the Chargers in the offseason after leading Michigan to a national championship. The action on the field should be good as well — Baltimore's Lamar Jackson and L.A.'s Justin Herbert are two of the league's top quarterbacks.

The NFL has overhauled its kickoffs, with the new format using elements of rules from the XFL and tweaking them for use in the NFL beginning this fall. The rules will be in play for one season on a trial basis and then be subject to renewal in 2025.

The first week of exhibition games featured a few long returns, a significant drop in touchbacks and confusion on an odd play that ended up as a rare safety.

It's fair to wonder how much strategy teams are withholding for the regular season. There could be some fireworks in Week 1.

Williams is commanding a big chunk of the attention since he was the No. 1-overall pick, but multiple teams could be going with a rookie quarterback this season.

The Washington Commanders have already named No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels the starter following his Heisman-winning season at LSU. There's also the chance that No. 3 pick Drake Maye will start for the New England Patriots this fall, though a decision hasn't been made.

The No. 12 overall pick — Bo Nix — has already earned the starting nod for the Denver Broncos. Nix, who started an NCAA QB-record 61 times at Oregon and Auburn, has led the Broncos to scores on six of the seven drives he’s directed in the preseason and has been statistically one of the league’s best passers this month.

AP Pro Football Writers Rob Maaddi, Arnie Stapleton, Josh Dubow and Schuyler Dixon contributed to this story.

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Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh talks to quarterback Easton Stick (2) during the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams walks off the field at the end of an NFL preseason football game against Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, at Soldier Field in Chicago. Bears won 27-3. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers walks outside of the locker room at Bank of America Stadium before a preseason NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) rolls out to pass against the Detroit Lions during the first half of an NFL preseason football game Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

BOSTON (AP) — A study that explores the feasibility of using pigeons to guide missiles and one that looks at the swimming abilities of dead fish were among the winners Thursday of this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for comical scientific achievement.

Held less than a month before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced, the 34th annual Ig Nobel prize ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was organized by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine’s website to make people laugh and think. Winners received a transparent box containing historic items related to Murphy’s Law — the theme of the night — and a nearly worthless Zimbabwean $10 trillion bill. Actual Nobel laureates handed the winners their prizes.

“While some politicians were trying to make sensible things sound crazy, scientists discovered some crazy-sounding things that make a lot of sense,” Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the magazine, said in an e-mail interview.

The ceremony started with Kees Moliker, winner of 2003 Ig Noble for biology, giving out safety instructions. His prize was for a study that documented the existence of homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks.

“This is the duck,” he said, holding up a duck. “This is the dead one.”

After that, someone came on stage wearing a yellow target on their chest and a plastic face mask. Soon, they were inundated with people in the audience throwing paper airplanes at them.

Then, the awards began — several dry presentations which were interrupted by a girl coming on stage and repeatedly yelling “Please stop. I'm bored.” The awards ceremony was also was broken up by an international song competition inspired by Murphy's Law, including one about coleslaw and another about the legal system.

The winners were honored in 10 categories, including for peace and anatomy. Among them were scientists who showed a vine from Chile imitates the shapes of artificial plants nearby and another study that examined whether the hair on people's heads in the Northern Hemisphere swirled in the same direction as someone's hair in the Southern Hemisphere.

Other winners include a group of scientists who showed that fake medicine that causes side effects can be more effective than fake medicine that doesn't cause side effects and one showing that some mammals are cable of breathing through their anus — winners who came on stage wearing a fish-inspired hats.

Julie Skinner Vargas accepted the peace prize on behalf of her late father B.F. Skinner, who wrote the pigeon-missile study. Skinner Vargas is also the head of the B.F. Skinner Foundation.

“I want to thank you for finally acknowledging his most important contribution,” she said. “Thank you for putting the record straight.”

James Liao, a biology professor at the University of Florida, accepted the physics prize for his study demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout.

“I discovered that a live fish moved more than a dead fish but not by much,” Liao said, holding up a fake fish. “A dead trout towed behind a stick also flaps its tail to the beat of the current like a live fish surfing on swirling eddies, recapturing the energy in its environment. A dead fish does live fish things.”

Professor James Liao displays a stuffed fish while accepting a prize for physics for demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A team of researchers perform a demonstration during a performance showing that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus while accepting the 2024 Ig Nobel prize in physiology at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

People in the audience throw paper airplanes toward the stage during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE - Students walk past the "Great Dome" atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Mass, April 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)