It's a new era in New York for the Jets. After deciding to move on from Aaron Rodgers, Jeff Ulbrich and Joe Douglas, the team has new faces at quarterback (Justin Fields), head coach (Aaron Glenn) and general manager (Darren Mougey).
The NFL released the full schedule of the upcoming 2025 season on Wednesday, and Glenn will have to navigate a few key stretches in order for his team to see success and hit their playoff goals.
Glenn is following up a measly 5-12 2024 campaign for the Jets with Robert Saleh and Ulbrich at the helm. Now with a few key moves this offseason, the Jets are a bit younger, a bit more inexperienced, but arguably more talented.
The Jets should be reasonably challenged in the first five weeks of the season. Kicking off the season at home for the first two weeks, against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills, respectively. The Week 1 matchup against the Steelers should be a good challenge for the Jets, who are relatively close in talent, and serves as Justin Fields' first game against the Steelers since departing Pittsburgh.
The Jets are on the road in Florida in Weeks 3 and 4, taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins, both of which should serve as litmus tests for Glenn's team. The Buccaneers made it to the playoffs last season, and Miami boasts one of the most talented skill groupings in the NFL.
The three-game stretch that follows should be where the Jets begin to hit their stride and we see them kick into gear. They host the Dallas Cowboys, take on the Denver Broncos across the pond in London, and host the Carolina Panthers. The Cowboys and Broncos defenses should provide a good challenge for the Jets offense, but the Jets' defense should also come to play in those respective matchups.
Ideally for the Jets, their matchup against the Panthers should be a tune-up game if all goes to plan.
The Jets then travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals before their Bye.
After that, the Jets will face a pair of similarly-matched teams in the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots. These games will be key down the stretch, these games are the ones that will likely determine if the Jets are destined for the playoffs.
The Jets will then be on the road against the Baltimore Ravens, which will be a tough test of attrition. The Ravens have one of the most talented rosters the Jets will face all season, and are arguably the best team they'll see outside of division play.
The Jets have a two-game homestead against the Atlanta Falcons and Dolphins before going back on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints in two games they should be favored in.
The final two games of the season come at home against the New England Patriots and TBD against the Buffalo Bills. These two games against divisional rivals could very well determine the Jets' playoff hopes.
For the Jets, the obvious key for this schedule is taking care of business against teams that can't stack up to them talent-wise. The Panthers, Saints, Falcons, and Jaguars should all be taken by the Jets. If the Jets fail to win any of those matchups, their playoff hopes become exponentially harder. The Jets have really struggled to close out these types of games over the past few seasons, but hopefully for them a new regime can seal the deal.
Winning the AFC East might be a tall task for the Jets, but they should be competitive in the division. The Dolphins and Patriots specifically should be the two matchups the Jets at the very least should split, if not sweep. If they are able to hit these marks they suddenly find themselves in playoff talks if they can pick up an additional couple of wins along the way.