Yesterday saw the announcement of the Jets’ 2025 schedule. Let’s dig into some nuggets…
Stability?
By now we’ve all had a chance to pore over the schedule and how it breaks down. One interesting feature is that the Jets don’t have a single game in the late afternoon window all year. No 4pm (or 4:25pm) kickoffs whatsover (unless they move a kickoff or put the Jets on at that time for their season finale which doesn’t currently have an official kickoff time).
It always seems easier for a team to establish routine and rhythm if they can maintain a consistent preparation schedule and the Jets should be able to do this with so many 1pm kickoffs.
Last year, it didn’t really translate to wins, but the Jets’ offense definitely played its best football when they had a run of games at 1pm down the stretch. Unfortunately, they didn’t play consecutive 1pm games until December, by which time they were out of contention. They certainly played like a team that struggled to establish a rhythm or routine up to that point.
This year, they have a few chances to establish that routine with three consecutive 1pm kickoffs out of the gate, three straight again starting in mid-October and then six (or seven) more in a row down the stretch.
Murderers’ Row
Unfortunately, the opportunity afforded by those first three games is countered by the fact that it coincides with matchups against three playoff teams in a row for the only time all season. Things ease up after that though.
After they face the Broncos in week six, the Jets play nine of their next 10 games against teams that didn’t make the playoffs last year. So, it’s a familiar refrain as Jets fans will hope the Jets can hang in there well enough to not be out of contention before that manageable stretch begins.
In recent seasons, we’ve seen the Jets do both, including a 7-4 start that ended in a 7-10 finish a few years ago and a 2-6 start last season that meant the Jets were basically already out of it before the winnable games portion of the schedule.
West coast breakfast buffet
One unintended advantage the Jets can sometimes benefit from is when a west coast team travels to the east coast for a 1pm kickoff which is a tough-to-adjust-to morning kickoff based on their local time. However, despite all of the 1pm kickoffs they have, this isn’t happening at all for the Jets in 2025.
However, the Jets were in this situation last year against Denver, Seattle and the Rams and lost all three so maybe it doesn’t help that much anyway.
Granted, Denver isn’t “west coast”, but that’s a long trip and a few timezones over so it still equates to a morning kick. Maybe it’s also worth noting that the London game which kicks off at 9:30am New York time is at 7:30am Denver time. They’re 2-0 in London, though, including a win over Jacksonville in 2022.
Looking ahead to 2026, the Jets will only have two west coast road trips at most because one of their road opponents from the AFC West is the Chiefs. The Raiders and Broncos will again travel east and potentially face a 1pm kickoff.
Our long wait is over
The most exciting news of all comes from the announcement of this year’s preseason schedule:
That’s right! We thought it was over forever but, after five years, The Bollinger Bowl is Back!
Is it weird to genuinely be more excited for preseason than the regular season itself?