New York Jets Schedule 2026: Full Slate, Dates, Times and TV

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Week 18 dates, times and networks are announced only after Week 17 concludes. Late-afternoon and prime-time windows remain subject to the NFL’s flexible scheduling rules, so this slate can still change during the season.

Games That Will Define the Jets’ Season

Game	Why It Matters
Week 1 at Tennessee	A winnable road opener against a fellow rebuild. After a three-win year, the difference between 1-0 and 0-1 matters more to this locker room than the standings suggest.
Week 9 at Kansas City	The measuring stick. Arrowhead in November is where last year’s Jets would have been buried; a competitive afternoon here says more about Glenn’s rebuild than a win over a bad team.
Week 10 vs. Buffalo	New York’s only home date against the division’s standard-bearer, and the front half of a brutal three-week run that also includes a Chargers trip and a Miami road game.
Weeks 16-18 vs. NE, vs. MIN, at BUF	The Jets have lost their last five December-into-January stretches badly. Finishing this one respectably is the clearest evidence available that the culture has changed.

FIFTEEN 1 P.M. STARTS

Fifteen of 17 games are scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET. The only exceptions are two 4:05 West Coast trips, and there is no prime-time game at all.

LATE BYE

New York’s bye doesn’t arrive until Week 13, meaning twelve straight games to open the season and only five after the break.

THE DROUGHTS

The Jets have not made the playoffs in 15 seasons, have not won the AFC East in 23, and are carrying 10 consecutive losing records.

How the Schedule Sets Up

The opening month is about as gentle as this league gets: Tennessee on the road, Green Bay at home, then trips to Detroit and Chicago before Cleveland visits MetLife. Four of the first six are against teams the Jets can plausibly hang with, and Glenn needs early evidence more than most coaches do. The AFC East slate is spread out sensibly — Miami in Weeks 7 and 12, New England in Weeks 6 and 16, Buffalo in Weeks 10 and 18.

The Week 13 bye is the structural problem. Twelve games without a break, including the Kansas City-Buffalo-Chargers-Miami gauntlet in Weeks 9 through 12, is a lot to ask of a young roster. The reward is a soft-looking close: Denver at home, a trip to Arizona, then New England and Minnesota back at MetLife before the finale in Buffalo. For the other side of the Weeks 7 and 12 matchups, see our Miami Dolphins 2026 schedule. Full league dates are at NFL.com.

The Bottom Line

This is a schedule built for a team nobody wants to televise, and that’s fair given what happened last year. The upside is that it’s front-loaded with games the Jets can actually win, and Glenn’s second season will be judged on whether September and October produce something other than blowouts. Twelve straight to open is unforgiving, the Week 9-12 stretch is the hardest on the calendar, and the finale in Buffalo has decided nothing good for this franchise in a long time. Competence first, wins second.