The New York Jets’ 2025 schedule includes 17 games over 18 weeks. However, according to Bleacher Report, the one that’ll define their season comes in Week 11 against the New England Patriots.
“In Week 11, the Jets once again feature in prime time, this time against the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football. They travel up to Foxborough. If these two teams both get off to hot starts, Week 11 is certainly a time where the contenders and pretenders are separated,” an analyst said on the Jets Bleacher Report stream.
A Rivalry Renewed Between Bitter Foes
Candidly, since the start of the 2011 season through 2023, the Patriots have kicked the Jets’ patookie. New England has won 23 of 25 matchups during that period.
However, over the last two seasons, the teams have split, going 2-2.
Now heading into the 2025 season, a new chapter is being written into this series. The Jets have a first-time head coach in Aaron Glenn. New England has an old face running the new place in Mike Vrabel.
According to Caesars Sportsbook & Casino, the Patriots’ over/under win total is set at 7.5, and the Jets’ over/under win total is set at 5.5.
The Jets only received two prime-time games on the 2025 schedule. The majority of their games are set for 1 pm (13 of their 17 games).
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter said the schedule reveal is a clear indication from the NFL that they “don’t believe” in the Jets.
However, the NFL’s senior director of broadcasting, Blake Jones, told me on “Boy Green Daily” that isn’t true.
Jones pointed at this Week 11 Jets versus Patriots matchup as a prime example of their belief. The Jets will have a chance to deliver on that belief in this season defining game against New England.
Some Extra Juice to This Rivalry
The Tennessee Titans fired Vrabel on January 9, 2024. He re-entered the coaching cycle this offseason seeking a head coaching gig.
The first team he met with was the Jets during the 2025 coaching cycle.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic revealed on the “Flight Plan” podcast that the Jets “fell in love” with Vrabel during that meeting. They wanted him to be the next HC of the NYJ badly.
However, mama came calling home. The Patriots fired Jerod Mayo after just one season on the job, and Vrabel went back to New England, where he won three Super Bowl championships.
Before the Pats hired Vrabel, they interviewed three other people: Ben Johnson, Byron Leftwich, and Pep Hamilton. They tried to interview one more candidate beyond that, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
Glenn declined that opportunity. “It just wasn’t the best situation for me,” Glenn later explained when asked why he rejected the Patriots.
A lot of Jets fans already wanted Glenn to be the next head coach in New York. He is a former first-round pick of the organization, is one of the best corners in team history, and had a sterling reputation with the Lions.
However, after he told the Patriots to shove it, that made Jets fans want him even more. Just read the replies on X previously Twitter.
Aaron Glenn was high on my list to be the next #Jets HC anyway but after he just rejected the #Patriots interview request… he just jumped to the top of my list baby! 🤣
BRING HIM HOME @nyjets !#JetUp https://t.co/oxa40jWgbQ
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) January 9, 2025
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Jets fans were already accustomed to hating Vrabel from his playing days in New England. However, his flirtation with the Jets was described as “calculated” to get the Patriots’ attention, according to Phil Perry of NBC Boston.
“(They saw it as) Vrabel shaking his tail feather from a few hundred miles away down in Jersey at the Krafts and letting them know, ‘If you want me, you might have to act fast, or you’ll have to deal with me in the division for the next decade, potentially,” Perry explained. “If Vrabel was trying to put pressure on Patriots owner Robert Kraft by interviewing with the Jets, he succeeded: New England announced Mayo’s firing just one hour after the Patriots’ season-ending win over the Buffalo Bills.”
