The New York Jets schedule will be officially unveiled at some point this month. As we anticipate the big reveal, it’s fun to speculate about which matchups might be placed into the most notable slots on the schedule – particularly the season opener.
Here are my three favorite options for the Jets’ 2024 season opener.
The low-key Spero Dedes AFC road game: Jets @ Titans (Sun, 1 p.m.)
As enticing as it is to see the Jets kick the season off with a blockbuster prime-time showdown (like they did last year), sometimes it’s great to start it off with a lower-key game against a weaker opponent. You know, the type of game that would be called by Spero Dedes on CBS. Don’t get me wrong, Dedes is a fantastic play-by-play announcer (his call of the Jets’ historic comeback in Cleveland will live on forever), but if he’s on the mic, you know it’s an undercard AFC matchup.
With an over-under of 6.5 wins at DraftKings Sportsbook, the Tennessee Titans have low expectations for the 2024 season. Yes, every NFL team is a threat to win on any given Sunday, especially if they’re playing at home. But if the Jets are serious about competing for the Super Bowl this year, the Titans are a team they should be able to make a statement against in the season opener.
Kicking off the season in Nashville would give the Jets an opportunity to start the season on a high note and build momentum going into their home opener. Perhaps the schedule-makers could follow up this game with a huge Week 2 prime-time game at MetLife Stadium.
Firmly establishing the new divisional hierarchy: Patriots @ Jets (Sun, 1 p.m.)
The Jets snapped their 15-game losing streak against the Patriots to close out the 2023 season, but the win didn’t carry as much emotional weight as it should have since both teams were already eliminated from playoff contention and the Patriots had their worst team in decades.
If the Jets open up against the Patriots at home, they’ll have a chance to really establish the turning of the tides in the AFC East. Kick off the season with a drubbing of Drake Maye in his first career game and Jerod Mayo’s first game as a head coach – all in front of a raucous MetLife crowd – and the Jets will have truly exorcised their New England demons. They’d have two consecutive victories, one in each stadium, with the second being their first meaningful win over New England since 2015.
There’s one storyline in particular that intrigues me about this potential matchup.
Three years ago, the Patriots came into MetLife Stadium for the Jets’ home opener and picked off Zach Wilson four times, burying Wilson into a hole he would never dig himself out of. It seems crazy to say at this point, but Wilson’s stock was high going into that game. He had a stellar preseason, and while the Jets lost their opener in Carolina, Wilson was largely praised for his performance behind atrocious pass protection.
Wilson walked onto that field in Week 2 as a popular man – as popular as he ever would be amongst Jets fans. With 80,000 Jets fans behind him, he stared down the Jets’ most despised division rival with a chance to establish himself as the guy who would finally stand up to the bullies from Boston. But once he threw that first pick, things quickly snowballed, and from there, it seemed as if Wilson developed habits that stuck with him for the rest of his Jets career.
Wouldn’t it be poetic justice if the Jets could do the same to Maye?
Straight into the limelight: Jets @ 49ers (MNF)
We started off with two options for New York to begin the season as a favorite while staying outside of the national spotlight. Let’s flip the script.
As the reigning NFC champion with much of the same roster returning, San Francisco remains the odds-on favorite to win the NFC title. If the Jets get to the promised land, this is the team they are most likely to face. To see these teams square off in the opening Monday Night Football game of the season would be a treat for football fans.
There is also plenty of juicy lore behind this matchup, making it an ideal season-opening prime-time game. Robert Saleh and Javon Kinlaw face their former team. Aaron Rodgers faces his hometown team after they passed on him in the 2005 draft and proceeded to beat him in the playoffs four times.
Of all 17 games on the Jets’ schedule, none would give them a better opportunity to immediately announce to the entire NFL world that they are a serious threat. Beat San Francisco on national television to open the season, and the Jets will prove they can handle any challenge that lies ahead.
As a reminder, here are the Jets’ 2024 opponents:
- Home: Buffalo, Miami, New England, Houston, Indianapolis, Denver, LA Rams, Seattle
- Away: Buffalo, Miami, New England, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Arizona, Minnesota
Which game do you want to see as the Jets’ home opener?
I don’t love week 1 division games so I’d prefer not NE. I do like your Tenn option. I also want to go to NE FIRST this season. We always end up there late in the season. Time for them to come to us “when it really counts”
PS. I like the shake up in the layout, but the home page is hard to decipher which photos go with which article headline. Is it the photo above? Below? It would help the “visual” if it were somehow sectioned off a bit. Maybe: The writer photo can stay, the to the right of the photo the article title, then below that in smaller print than the title is the “by line”.. Just my opinion.