New York Jets Opening Road Game Considered 'Second Best' on NFL Schedule

Only one game ranks higher than the New York Jets' Monday Night Football season opener on the NFL's 2024 schedule.

Dec 28, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh / Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Jets are scheduled to play six primetime games in 2024, including arguably the juiciest matchup on the entire NFL slate.

In a game packed with superstars and storylines, the Jets will open the season on Monday Night Football for the second year in a row. Headlined by Aaron Rodgers's return from a torn Achilles suffered during last year's MNF opener, New York will visit the Super Bowl LVIII runner-up San Francisco 49ers on September 9 at 8:15 pm ET on ESPN.

Ranking "the unequivocal 10 best (pre-flex) prime-time matchups of the 2024 NFL season," NFL.com tabbed the Jets' lid-lifter at No. 2 overall. Only the Week 12 Harbaugh Bowl between the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers ranked higher.

The Week 1 affair will mark fourth-year head coach Robert Saleh's return to San Francisco, where he spent four seasons as defensive coordinator. In addition to the recently-signed defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, New York's vaunted defense boasts multiple former 49ers, including starting cornerback D.J. Reed and interior lineman Solomon Thomas.

The anticipation should only build as the date grows closer. The expectations surrounding the Jets are sky high with the franchise's hopes hinging on a triumphant return by Rodgers.

From NFL.com's Top 10 prime-time games:

"One year to the Monday when Aaron Rodgerstore his Achilles, the scheduling gods at 345 Park are putting him and the Jets back under the Monday Night Football spotlight -- this time across the country and far away from MetLife Stadium. Rodgers will be comfortable in his Week 1 arena and with this opponent: He played college ball up the Bay at Cal and was memorably passed up in the 2005 draft by the 49ers, a team he faced 13 times with the Packers (6-3 in the regular season, 0-4 in the playoffs). The now-Jets QB may be uncomfortable, however, facing a fierce San Francisco pass rush in his first game behind an improved but still-gelling offensive line. In an odd twist of fate, Rodgers will also face down the player who hurried him last season into his torn Achilles: Leonard Floyd, who joined San Francisco from Buffalo this offseason. Rare is it that a reigning NFC champion is an after-thought in its prime-time home-opener, and yet ... " — Jeremy Bergman