The NFL Schedule was released on Thursday Night and the league certainly thinks highly of the 2023 New York Jets. After having only having a single prime time game each the previous two seasons (the mandatory Thursday Night matchups) and only nine in the last 5 years, the Jets are slated to have 5 in 2023 (six if you count the Black Friday matchup against the Dolphins).

The league wasted no time in pushing the Jets into prime time, putting them in the opening Monday Night Football matchup against the divisional rival Buffalo Bills. This could be a worst-case scenario for the boys in green.

It is likely that Rodgers will play little if at all in the preseason as he is already familiar with the offensive system, and you don’t want to have your 39-year-old quarterback playing in games that don’t matter. Rodgers hasn’t played much in either of the last few preseason games while with Green Bay. It’s a perfectly reasonable course to take.

In the last 2 seasons Rodgers has thrown for a combined 413 yards, 3 INT’s and 0 TD’s while losing by a margin of 61-10 in his opening games the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings. There’s no reason to hit the panic button as he tends to bounce back in a big way.

Couple his likely rust in Week 1 with a prime-time matchup against the vaunted Bills and you have a recipe for an absolute overreaction by fans and media come Tuesday September 12. The Bills are a team the Jets would ideally face while firing on all cylinders, something that is doubtful for Week 1.

On the flip side, if the Jets were to win that game, expectations will shoot from “making noise in the playoffs” to “Super Bowl or bust”. 

What will be most fun for Jets fans are the matchups on Sunday Night football week 4 hosting the Kansas City Chiefs and week 10 at the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs game will be their first appearance on SNF since Nov. 13, 2011, when they got demolished by the New England Patriots. For reference, the last touchdown pass in a Sunday Night Football game for the Jets was a dink from Mark Sanchez to Plaxico Burress.

Here is the full schedule:

• Week 1:  Buffalo Bills (Monday, Sep. 11, 8:15pm ET)
• Week 2: @ Dallas Cowboys (Sunday, Sep. 17, 4:25pm ET)
• Week 3: New England Patriots (Sunday, Sep. 24, 1:00pm ET)
• Week 4:  Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday, Oct 1, 8:20pm ET)
• Week 5: @ Denver Broncos (Sunday, Oct 8, 4:25pm ET)
• Week 6: Philadelphia Eagles (Sunday, Oct 15, 4:25pm ET)
• Week 7: BYE
• Week 8: @ New York Giants (Sunday, Oct 29, 1:00pm ET)
• Week 9: Los Angeles Chargers (Monday, Nov 5, 8:15pm ET)
• Week 10: @ Las Vegas Raiders (Sunday, Nov 11, 8:20pm ET)
• Week 11: @ Buffalo Bills (Sunday, Nov 18, 4:25pm ET)
• Week 12: Miami Dolphins (Friday, Nov 24, 3:00pm ET)
• Week 13: Atlanta Falcons (Sunday, Dec 3, 1:00pm ET)
• Week 14: Houston Texans (Sunday, Dec 10, 1:00pm ET)
• Week 15: @ Miami Dolphins (Sunday, Dec 17, 1:00pm ET)
• Week 16: Washington Commanders (Sunday, Dec 24, 1:00pm ET)
• Week 17: @ Cleveland Browns (Thursday, Dec 28, 8:15pm ET)
• Week 18: @ New England Patriots (Time/Date TBD)

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With the toughest part of their schedule early in the season, Aaron Rodgers will have to get acquainted with his teammates as quickly as possible to prevent the Jets having to dig themselves out of a hole the rest of the season. It would not be surprising to see this team realistically start 3-3 entering their BYE week.