Networks and streaming services are paying the NFL $111 billion through 2033 for the rights to the single most valuable entertainment content in the country. Thus, they also influence scheduling — when games will be aired and which games will be broadcast nationally. The Jets have been the team most affected.
When they host the New England Patriots tonight at MetLife Stadium to begin Week 3 of the 2024 season, it will be their third game in just 11 days — a physically and mentally taxing stretch. They played the San Francisco 49ers on the road on September 9 in a Monday night match-up, a 32-19 loss. Then this past Sunday, the Jets were in Tennessee where they defeated the Titans 24-17. Coming out of this condensed slate of games 2-1 could be the impetus for a playoff campaign, which has eluded the Jets since 2010, the longest active period of not making the postseason of any team of the four major (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) North American sports.
“There’s always going to be changes with regard to Monday: short week, get ready to go to Tennessee, short week on Thursday, long week to Denver, short week to London, back to a mini long week,” said Jets head coach Robert Saleh in late August, looking ahead to the Jets schedule. “I mean, there’s all kinds of changes.”
After tonight, the Jets will play the Denver Broncos at MetLife on September 29 before traveling across the Atlantic Ocean to take on the Minnesota Vikings in London on October 6 in a 9:30 a.m. EST start.
The return of quarterback Aaron Rodgers from a torn left Achilles tendon sustained in last season’s opener provides star power to a team expected to compete for a playoff spot coming into this season. This makes the Jets one of the league’s featured teams, playing seven standalone games (the only game at that specific time slot) in the first 11 weeks of this season.
Rodgers led the Jets on a late fourth-quarter drive culminating in a go-ahead touchdown with 4:31 remaining in the win over Tennessee. Overall, he was 18-30 for 176 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. Second-year defensive lineman Will McDonald IV powered the defense with three of the Jets’ four sacks.
But the Jets did not come out of the game unscathed: Their 2023 Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jermaine Johnson suffered a season-ending torn right Achilles tendon in the third quarter.
After losing to the Washington Commanders 21-18 on the road this past Sunday to drop to 0-2, the Giants will be in enemy territory again this Sunday to take on the Browns in Cleveland.