The New York Jets have every right to be upset about the 2024 NFL schedule release.
At least that’s the opinion of Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr, who listed the green and white among five NFL teams that “got screwed.”
“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. 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. 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 bluntly wrote on May 15.
“If owner Woody Johnson somehow aggressively pursued this kind of attention, or if he did not adequately protest it, Jets fans should boycott these prime-time games en masse and leave him with an empty stadium to think about.”
NFL Media Piles on the Jets in Reacting to NFL 2024 Schedule
Orr wasn’t the only one with that opinion, Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team said, “Talk about rough” when discussing the Jets’ schedule.
“Their schedule is pretty brutal to start the year and it feels like every year we say this of the Jets. Where it’s like wow what did the Jets do to the schedule makers that they always get something tough, weird, and complicated,” Meirov explained.
The Jets have the maximum allotted six primetime games in 2024. All of which come within the first 11 weeks of the 2024 season.
According to Warren Sharp, the Jets “are the FIRST team in NFL history to receive SIX PRIMETIME GAMES in the first 11 weeks of the season.”
the Jets are the FIRST team in NFL history to receive SIX PRIMETIME GAMES in the first 11 weeks of the season:
Week 1 at 49ers (MNF)
Week 3 vs Patriots (TNF)
Week 6 vs Bills (MNF)
Week 7 at Steelers (SNF)
Week 9 vs Texans (TNF)
Week 11 vs Colts (SNF)
4 of the 6 are at home
The other point of contention has been the Jets’ start to the season. New York will play three games within a 10-day span.
In Week 1 the Jets travel to play the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football. Then in Week 2, the green and white will stay on the road to play the Tennessee Titans. Finally, in Week 3, New York will open at home versus the New England Patriots although that will come on a short week via the Thursday Night Football schedule.
Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder
While there have been a few national folks who have poked holes in the Jets 2024 schedule, there have been plenty of people who have argued the other side.
Warren Sharp said emphatically on social media that, “the Jets clearly have the NFL’s easiest schedule weeks 1-5.”
Eric Edholm of NFL Media identified the 10 teams with “the most favorable slates.” The Jets made an appearance at No. 5 on his list.
“Following the Week 1 whopper at San Francisco against the NFC champs, the Jets have all winnable games until the big Week 6 Monday Night Football showdown with the Bills at MetLife, the scene of last year’s wild opener. Otherwise, there aren’t too many worrisome spots prior to the Week 12 bye, outside of a short-week home game on Halloween against the Texans. If Rodgers stays healthy, the Jets can afford to drop some of their tougher games and still enter the home stretch in contention,” Edholm explained.
“Following the Week 10 game at Arizona, the Jets won’t cross the Mississippi River again for the rest of the season. They finish with four home games, the later-season bye, back-to-back games in the state of Florida in Weeks 14 (at the Dolphins) and 15 (at the Bucs), and the all-important short hop up to Buffalo for Round 2 with the Bills. It also doesn’t hurt that the Jets host two West Coast-based teams (the Seahawks and Rams) in 1 p.m. ET games.”
He finished by saying, “Don’t count out” the Jets in the running for the AFC East title in 2024. “They drew a pretty good hand,” Edholm said.
