Jets Face Brutal 3-Week Stretch That Will Determine Their Season

Earlier this week, the New York Jets unveiled their 2026 schedule, which features a bunch of 1 p.m. ET games and no primetime games. Depending on who you ask, it's not surprising the Jets didn’t get at least one game under the lights, especially with how they played last season.

Nonetheless, the Jets will try to change the narrative about themselves in Aaron Glenn’s second year as head coach. However, it won’t be easy, despite all the changes they made on both sides of the ball. The Jets have a relatively tough schedule, as they will be facing the AFC West and NFC North.

Among the eight teams from those divisions that New York will see, four of them made the NFL playoffs last season (Bears, Packers, Broncos, and Chargers).

When looking at the Jets’ schedule, most fans and analysts will point out how Weeks 2-4 will be a pivotal stretch for this squad. After traveling to Nashville to play the Titans in Week 1, the Jets return home in Week 2 to play the Green Bay Packers, then go back on the road to play the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears in consecutive weeks.

That’s a treacherous part of the schedule that could quickly put Glenn’s job in jeopardy if his team gets out to a slow start as they did last season. However, there’s another three-week stretch before the bye that could really doom Glenn and determine whether the Jets will be playing for a top pick in next year's draft.

Jets’ schedule from Weeks 9-11 could close the books on their 2026 season

In our early game-by-game prediction for the Jets, we had them at 5-3 by Week 9, which would be the best-case scenario.

However, once the Jets reach their Week 9 opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, Glenn’s crew could be in store for a multi-week losing streak. After facing the Raiders at home in Week 8, New York will go to Arrowhead to play the Chiefs, who should have a healthy Patrick Mahomes.

Even though the Chiefs took a step back last season due to inconsistent play and injury, they’re still a dangerous team. This will be an uphill battle for the Jets, as the Chiefs will be coming off back-to-back road games against the Broncos and Seahawks.

If you’re the Jets, the hope is that you can catch the Chiefs off guard, considering Kansas City has to go on the road to face the Falcons the next week. But knowing Andy Reid, he will have his team prepared. The Chiefs will try to frustrate Geno Smith and hopefully test the Jets’ run defense with Kenneth Walker III.

For what it's worth, we had the Jets losing to the Chiefs in Arrowhead in our predictions. After that matchup against Mahomes, New York returns home to play Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in Week 10. As we all know, divisional games can go either way, as you have to expect the unexpected.

Last season, the Bills swept the two-game season series and held New York to 18 total points. It likely won’t be the same story this year with Geno Smith under center, but the Bills won’t be an easy out for the Jets.

For them to steal this game at home, they’ll have to win the turnover battle and try to contain James Cook, which is easier said than done. Then in Week 11, the Jets will begin a two-game road trip, starting in Los Angeles against the Chargers.

The Chargers will look to run the ball at the Jets’ d-line with Mike McDaniel as their offensive coordinator. Then, on defense, collapse the pocket on Smith and force him into mistakes. Los Angeles’ defense was ranked seventh in takeaways (23) in 2025. They don’t have Jesse Minter, who is now the head coach in Baltimore, but it's still a dangerous unit.

The best-case scenario for the Jets would be 2-1, but there’s a good chance that they could go 1-2 or even 0-3. If it's 0-3, the Week 12 game against Miami becomes a must-win. And let’s say New York loses that game, there would be pressure on the Jets’ brass to make a switch at head coach during the Week 13 bye.

To say that pressure is on Glenn is an understatement. With the talent that the Jets have on both sides, the ceiling for this team should be at least seven wins. That’s a doable goal for Glenn, but he must have his team ready to go every week.

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