While the NFL’s 2026 schedule has yet to be released, we’ve long known which opponents the New York Jets will tackle:
Home:
- Buffalo Bills
- Miami Dolphins
- New England Patriots
- Denver Broncos
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Green Bay Packers
- Minnesota Vikings
- Cleveland Browns
Away:
- Buffalo Bills
- Miami Dolphins
- New England Patriots
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Chicago Bears
- Detroit Lions
- Tennessee Titans
- Arizona Cardinals
While the Jets’ opponents have been set in stone since the end of the 2025 regular season, what we didn’t know until after the NFL draft was what each opponent’s roster would (more or less) look like.
Now that the draft and the bulk of veteran transactions are in the books, each team has been slapped with reasonable expectations for the 2026 season. That gives us an estimation of each team’s projected schedule difficulty based on forecasted Vegas win totals.
Based on this analysis, the Jets have the NFL’s fifth-easiest schedule in 2026, including the third-easiest in the AFC and the easiest in the AFC East.
Rounding out the AFC East, the New England Patriots rank 12th-easiest, the Buffalo Bills rank 14th, and the Miami Dolphins rank 31st.
The Jets’ soft slate is thanks to their fourth-place divisional finish in 2025. This draws them matchups against the Tennessee Titans (6.5 over-under wins), Cleveland Browns (6.5), and Arizona Cardinals (4.5). It’s an advantage compared to their higher-placed division rivals.
The bad news for New York is that they will face a pair of tough divisions in the NFC North and the AFC West. Seven of the eight teams in those two divisions have over-unders of at least 8.5 wins. However, this isn’t a disadvantage compared to their division rivals, as the rest of the AFC East will face the same eight teams.
It’s worth noting that, as a last-place team, the Jets’ schedule is hardened by having to face the top teams in their division, whereas the top teams get to face the Jets. New York still has to play nearly a quarter of their schedule against the Patriots (9.5) and Bills (10.5).
On the positive side, the Jets will draw two games against the Dolphins (4.5), one of the only two NFL teams with a worse over-under than New York, joining the Cardinals, who, of course, the Jets also play.
It goes without saying that many of these win total projections will look silly once the regular season plays out. Save for a few particularly outstanding or terrible teams, we don’t know how any team will look in any given season.
Nonetheless, as Jets fans scrounge for any sliver of hope that their favorite team will ever make the playoffs again, New York’s projected schedule difficulty is a hearty breadcrumb to nibble on.
