The Jets have one of the most interesting schedules in the NFL.
New York will play third-place schedule after their finish in the AFC East, as well as the NFC West and AFC South. Oh yeah, and the Jets open the season on Monday Night Football against the 49ers and play in six primetime games — tied for most in the league — through their first 11 weeks. New York's primetime slate is the most in the first 11 weeks since the 1970 merger, according to Elias Sports. Snuck in between those games is a morning match in London against the Vikings.
They have one of the easiest strengths of schedule, but that's based on implied win totals and their opponents' 2023 record. New York's vaunted defense could also face as many as three rookie quarterbacks from Weeks 3-5 and also gets second-year starter Will Levis in Week 2. A feast for the Jets' two top-10 cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed.
With all that being said, the Jets have a very good claim to having one of the most unfavorable schedules in the NFL, according to Sports Illustrated's Connor Orr.
"If this schedule was purely the creation of the NFL, the Jets should refuse to take the field until the league rips this up and starts all over," Orr wrote following the NFL's schedule release. "Last year, they had six stand-alone games. This year, it’s seven stand-alone games in 11 weeks on top of two quick Sunday-to-Thursday pivots."
FULL NFL SCHEDULE 2024: Dates, times, TV channels for all 272 games, week by week | Sporting News
Both those Sunday-to-Thursday swings happen between Weeks 2 and 9. The Jets play at the Titans in Week 2 on Sept. 15 and then at home against the Patriots four days later. Then, they'll be in Foxborough to play the Patriots in Week 9 on Oct. 27 before returning home to face the Texans on Halloween in a Thursday night game.
Baked in the middle of that is a trip to London to play the Vikings on Oct. 6. Typically, teams that play overseas get a bye the following week to recover from jet lag. But these Jets weren't so lucky, as they will only get an extra one day to rest before they play the Bills at MetLife eight days later on Monday night.
"I understand the monetary value in essentially holding entertaining teams hostage and forking them over to the highest bidders, but this schedule is beyond relentless. It’s a complete joke," Orr added. "I’m not making excuses for the Robert Saleh regime, which must perform under heightened circumstances in order to remain in place beyond 2024, but this team is in a unique disposition."
Orr added that the difference between the Jets and a team like the Chiefs playing in primetime is the Chiefs have been a good on-field product. They win games and employ the best players in football. The same can be same for teams like the Bills and the Cowboys.
The Jets, though, just have Aaron Rodgers. They had a similar slate of primetime games in 2023, but that dream died the moment Rodgers tore his Achilles four plays into their Monday night season-opener against the Bills. America watched as the Jets trotted out Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian in primetime.
The NFL hopes the second time will be the charm here. Maybe that's why the league stacked the primetime slots earlier in the season to insure itself against major injuries.
"At best, this schedule is a 500-to-1 bet that these Jets games will still be interesting at the end of the season. At worst, it’s a clear middle finger," Orr continued. "It’s important for fans to remember that playing in prime time is only a reward for ownership and fans. Teams have to adjust to a different routine, shorter rest periods, heightened attention and media responsibility and myriad other factors that make the process an outright annoyance."
Orr went further to suggest that if Jets owner Woody Johnson asked the NFL for this many primetime games, fans should be even more frustrated with the schedule. Orr even suggested fans should boycott some of these games because of how it could negatively affect the team's ability to win.
"Again, the goal here is to win football games. You win football games by applying a sound, flexible and healthy roster to a schedule that features the same peaks and valleys as any other club," Orr wrote. "That’s not what has happened here. Johnson cannot confuse good and bad attention in this case. Scheduling Rodgers and Leonard Floyd on opening night alone should paint a clear picture of what the league thinks of Johnson ..."
The Jets will be one of the most interesting teams to watch in 2024 because of Rodgers, his return to the field and their collection of young talent across the roster. Putting them on primetime so much, though, could put that intrigue at risk.
