The NFL schedule release is upon us.
This has become like a holiday for NFL fans to see the roadmap their teams will travel each season. For the Jets, this year’s release is a little less exciting than last year, when the anticipation was the Jets would be relevant to the TV networks for the first time in years with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.
The Jets were picked for five prime-time games last season, the most a team can be chosen for. It will be interesting to see whether Rodgers and the Jets still carry the same cachet this year with the networks and land in prime time again.
For this week’s newsletter, I will try to design the perfect schedule from a Jets perspective.
The Jets have the fourth-easiest schedule this season, according to Sharp Football Analysis. That is based off of their opponents’ win totals from Las Vegas for this season, so it tends to be more accurate than using past records.
The Jets have an over/under win total of 9 ½ from Vegas. If they go over, they are probably playoff-bound. If they go under, there will be changes in 2025.
Here is how I view a perfect schedule for the 2024 Jets:
Week 1: at Patriots
The Jets have a lot of new pieces on offense and a lot of older players who may not do much in the preseason. That means the Jets need time to work out the kinks and an easy opponent to do that against. It still feels weird calling the Patriots an easy opponent, but they will have a new coach and quarterback, so they will have plenty to work out on their own.
I also think this would be a 1 p.m. game on Sunday. The Jets felt a little overexposed last season, and there is a desire to fly under the radar a bit more this year. I think they would welcome a quiet Week 1 game.
Week 2: vs. Broncos
Could this be Zach Wilson’s return to MetLife Stadium? That would add intrigue to this game.
But I am again looking for an opponent that is not formidable early in the season. This is another chance for Rodgers and Co. to find a rhythm against an opponent that is not expected to be good.
Week 3: at Steelers
The Jets could open the season against three teams breaking in new quarterbacks. The Steelers will have Russell Wilson or Justin Fields at quarterback. By this point, the Jets should be hitting their stride offensively, and a trip to Pittsburgh won’t be as scary as it once was.
Week 4: vs. Dolphins
The AFC East projects to be much tighter this year with the Bills, Dolphins and Jets. This would be the first meeting for the Jets with one of the other division contenders, and I could see this being their first prime-time game of the season. Let’s say this one lands on “Monday Night Football.”
The Jets got swept last season in embarrassing fashion by the Dolphins. They got smoked on Black Friday and then a few weeks later in a 30-0 loss in Miami. If the Jets want to contend in the division, they need to show they have caught up to the Dolphins.
Week 5: at Cardinals
The Jets head to the desert to face the rebuilding Cardinals. This should be a rare game where the Jets are a road favorite. They play the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon and then spend the week in Arizona practicing before heading to…
Week 6: at 49ers
This game will get a lot of attention, and I’m putting it on “Sunday Night Football.” There are a few good storylines here. This will be Robert Saleh’s first trip back to San Francisco since he was the defensive coordinator there.
This is also a big game for Rodgers, who grew up in California and went to college in Berkeley. There were also lots of rumors about the 49ers trading for him a few years ago.
The 49ers are the defending NFC champs, and this could be a great game.
Week 7: vs. Seahawks
The Jets return home after their West Coast swing to face a West Coast team. It is hard to know what to expect from the Seahawks in their first season without Pete Carroll as their coach. Geno Smith remains the starting quarterback and playing against his former team will be a storyline, but there is not much juice left to the Smith vs. the Jets angle.
Week 8: vs. Bills
We’re going to put this one on “Thursday Night Football” for the Jets’ third prime-time game of the season. The Jets have beaten the Bills at home in each of the last two seasons, including last year’s memorable Monday night opener.
It will be interesting to see where these two teams are at this point in the season because it feels as if the Bills took a big step back this offseason.
Week 9: Bye week
You want the bye right in the middle of the season.
Week 10: vs. Texans
The Jets will be rested for this visit from C.J. Stroud and the Texans. The Jets beat the Texans last year in one of the more surprising results of the season. Will the Texans be motivated by that? Probably not. This is not high school football.
But the Texans have become a talented team, and this should be one of the Jets’ toughest games of the season.
Week 11: at Titans
Another AFC South opponent, but this one should be one of the easiest games of the year for the Jets. The Titans have a new coach and are in the early stages of a rebuild. The Jets defense should give quarterback Will Levis fits.
Week 12: at Bills
This should land right around Thanksgiving, early enough to get to Buffalo before it gets really, really cold. The Jets have not won in Orchard Park since the final game of the 2019 season. A win here would be a statement as the Jets begin their playoff push.
I’m going to put this game on “Monday Night Football” for the club’s fourth prime-time game of the season.
Week 13: vs. Rams
The Mike LaFleur Revenge Game! This could be a matchup of two teams battling for playoff position as we begin December.
Sean McVay and Saleh are close friends, so this will be a chance for Saleh to show he can match wits with his buddy, the offensive genius. A West Coast team coming to MetLife in early December should be an advantage for the Jets.
Week 14: at Jaguars
This is the end of a potentially difficult slate for the Jets against the Bills, Rams and Jaguars. I wanted to get these games in before the final stretch of the season. This may have to be played much earlier in the year because there are rumors the Jets-Jaguars game will be played in London and those games don’t occur late in the season. If it is in Florida, this is a nice time of the year for the Jets to go there. It won’t be unbearably hot like it is early in the season.
Week 15: vs. Patriots
The second meeting with the Patriots comes late in the year, and who knows who will be at quarterback for New England by then? Have the Patriots turned their attention to 2025 at that point? The Jets have not beaten New England at home since 2015. It’s time.
Week 16: at Vikings
A trip to Minneapolis in late December is not what you want, but the good news is the Vikings play indoors. The only snow in the stadium that day is the cool fake snow they drop from the ceiling.
This is another potential matchup with a former Jets quarterback if Sam Darnold is starting. The more likely scenario is rookie J.J. McCarthy has taken over the starting spot by then.
Week 17: vs. Colts
This could be a potential playoff clincher for the Jets if the season goes well or a depressing home finale if the season has gone poorly.
The Colts could be a surprise team, but they are more likely still feeling their way with second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson. This should be a game the Jets win.
Week 18: at Dolphins
The Jets always seem to end their season on the road, so I’m not even going to pretend like this could be a home game, which would be the actual ideal scenario. Instead, I’m giving the Jets a trip to Florida in early January. Who doesn’t want that?
In a perfect Jets world, this game is meaningless and they are resting their starters getting ready for the playoffs.
A new sign for Aaron Rodgers
One of the big storylines of last year was how much control Rodgers had over the Jets organization. There were plenty of jokes about Joe Douglas being the assistant GM and Rodgers actually running the show.
But I think it has gone unnoticed that things have shifted this offseason.
It is difficult to find any moves the Jets have made that have Rodgers’ imprint on them.
Many people believed offensive tackle David Bakhtiari would be on the Jets by now because of Rodgers, but he remains a free agent. A year after the team signed Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Billy Turner — who had ties to Rodgers from Green Bay — they have not added any former Packers. Cobb and Turner are now gone. Lazard’s contract means the Jets are stuck with him this season unless they trade him.
Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett remains, and he will get his chance to show what he can do as a play-caller with Rodgers as his quarterback.
It looks as if Rodgers will focus on being the quarterback this season and not the GM.
Stat’s so
Robert Saleh is 18-33 as the Jets head coach. That gives him the 10th most coaching wins in Jets history. If he has a good season in 2024, he can move up the list.
Here are the top 10 coaches by wins (regular and postseason combined) in Jets history:
1. Week Ewbank (1963-73): 73-78-6
2. Joe Walton (1983-89): 54-59-1
3. Rex Ryan (2009-14): 50-52-0
4. Herm Edwards (2001-05): 41-44-0
5. Walt Michaels (1977-82): 41-49-1
6. Bill Parcells (1997-99): 30-20-0
7. Bruce Coslet (1990-93): 26-39-0
8. Todd Bowles (2015-18): 24-40-0
9. Eric Mangini (2006-08): 23-26-0
10. Robert Saleh (2021-present): 18-33-0
Source: Pro Football Reference
