As the 2021 NFL schedule leaks out, ESM has facts and figures for every happening involving the New York Jets.

As the New York Jets’ schedule emerges, ESM has everything you need to know about their 2021 slate…

(All times ET and subject to change for Weeks 5-17) 

Week 1: 9/12 @ Carolina

1 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+ 

Revenge is a dish potentially served early for Sam Darnold, as he won’t have to wait long to see his former employers. Darnold won’t be the only bearer of green involved in this Week 1 tilt, as other ex-Jets on the Carolina roster include Robby Anderson, Pat Elflein, Juston Burris, and Frankie Luvu. This marks the Jets’ first visit to Charlotte since 2013, and they’re 1-3 all-time at the establishment now known as Bank of America Stadium (the lone win coming in 2001). The Jets’ last two openers came against the Buffalo Bills and they open with an NFC opponent for the first since 2018 (a 48-17 win in Detroit).

Week 2: 9/19 vs. New England 

1: p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

The East Rutherford edition of the annual Jets-Patriots pair was part of ESPN’s Monday Night Football package in each of the last two seasons but shifts back to an early afternoon slot. Time will tell if it’s a matchup between first-round quarterbacks Zach Wilson and Mac Jones, but the Jets will still have plenty to play for. They haven’t beaten the Patriots since the 2015 overtime thriller in East Rutherford. Their last win over New England in regulation came in the Patriots’ first visit in 2010.

Week 3: 9/26 @ Denver

4:05 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

The Jets’ furthest trip out west…as well as their lone scheduled game in the Sunday late afternoon timeslot…is a trip to the Mile High City. This will mark the fourth get-together between the Jets and Broncos over the last five seasons, the last two coming in East Rutherford. New York will likely look to avenge a 37-28 defeat suffered in an October edition of Thursday Night Football.

Week 4: 9/26 vs. Tennessee

1 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

The first of six meetings against playoff participants comes in Week 4 against the Titans. While Mike Vrabel has had his share of success against the Jets (13-4 as a player, 1-0 as a coach), but the Jets have had the better of this series since the Titans left Houston behind, currently holding a 7-4 lead. Tennessee will visit East Rutherford for a Jets game for the first time since 2015, a 30-8 Jets win. Incoming receiver Corey Davis will face off against his former comrades for the first time.

Week 5: 10/10 vs. Atlanta (@ London)

9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network

The Jets will play their third regular season game beyond United States soil, previously topping Buffalo in Toronto in 2009 and Miami in London in 2015. They’ll serve as the road team in a game against the Atlanta Falcons, who will appear in their first international game since 2014. Atlanta is coming off a four-win season but enjoyed a significant offensive boost through the selection of Florida tight Kyle Pitts with the fourth pick of the recent draft. The game will be staged at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, home of the eponymous English Premier League team.

Week 7: 10/24 @ New England

1 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

Granted the traditional bye after an international game, the Jets will have an extra week to prepare for the house of horrors that is Gillette Stadium. They’ll need all the help they can get, as they haven’t won a regular season game in Foxboro since 2008. In fact, the last one-possession game they had against New England on the road came back in 2015.

Week 8: 10/31 vs. Cincinnati 

1 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

It’s probably appropriate that the Jets’ meeting with the Bengals comes on Halloween, as things turned horrifying the last time they met in 2019 through New York’s 22-6 loss to their 0-11 hosts at Paul Brown Stadium. Cincinnati has won each of the last three meetings, dating back to 2013. If anything, this should be one of the more intriguing matchups in recent memory, as it will feature two recent first-round quarterbacks, Wilson and Joe Burrow, doing battle for the first time.

Week 9: 11/4 @ Indianapolis 

8:20 p.m. ET, Fox/NFL Network/Amazon Prime

The loss of Sma Darnold, whose Jets career indirectly began with a trade between the Jets and Colts, perhaps dims the luster a bit, but that didn’t stop the powers that be at Thursday Night Football from scheduling this indirect matchup between former Philadelphia Eagles. After all, Joe Douglas was in the front office when the future Super Bowl champions drafted current Colt Carson Wentz with the second overall pick in 2016. The Jets will also be looking to avenge a 36-7 defeat at the hands of the Colts last year and end their bad luck on Thursday night, having lost each of their last three appearances.

Week 10: 11/14 vs. Buffalo

1 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

The Jets are coming off their first sweep at the hands of the defending AFC finalist Bills since 2015. Even more shocking, they’ve lost three in a row at home, dating back to a 41-10 shellacking engineered by Matt Barkley.

Week 11: 11/21 vs. Miami

1 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

New York will be looking to solve their problems against the Dolphins: Miami has swept the Jets in three of the last five seasons and they mustered only a single field goal against them last season (coming in a 20-3 loss in East Rutherford). Making these matchups all the more crucial? AFC East bragging rights. The Dolphins’ sweep created a 55-55-1 tie in the all-time series.

Week 12: 11/28 @ Houston

1 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

Not too long, the idea of Deshaun Watson donning a Jets uniform seemed rather realistic. Several months later, there’s doubt that Watson, continuing to deal with sexual assault allegations, will even suit up for the 2021 season. The Jets have lost each of their last three meetings with the Texans (including the last visit to Houston in 2015), their last triumph coming in November 2010. This game is a bit of a homecoming for head coach Robert Saleh, who served in a variety of Houston defensive roles for six seasons (2005-10).

Week 13: 12/5 vs. Philadelphia

1 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

The NFL’s new 17th game procedures moved up what was a quadrennial matchup between these green foes, but the Jets probably wouldn’t have minded waiting until 2023 to see the Eagles again. Philadelphia has been anything but sunny from a Jets standpoint, as the Eagles have won 11 meetings of a series dating back to 1973.

Week 14: 12/12 vs. New Orleans

1 p.m. ET, Fox

This series dates back to 1972, but the Jets and Saints will do battle for only the 14th time, New York holding a 7-6 advantage. New Orleans has won three of the last four matchups, though this will be the first without Drew Brees since 2005 when Aaron Brooks guided the team to a 21-19 road victory at Giants Stadium.

Week 15: 12/18 or 19 @ Miami

TBD

While the NFL has yet to confirm, it’s possible that the second matchup between the Jets and Dolphins could be flexed into a Saturday game, depending on the potential playoff implications behind it. The Jets’ have had a hard time taking their talents to South Beach in recent years, last winning at Hard Rock Stadium in 2015.

Week 16: 12/26 vs. Jacksonville

1 p.m. ET, CBS/Paramount+

Whether they like it or not, the careers of Wilson and Trevor Lawrence will be forever linked as the opening picks of the 2021 NFL Draft. Football fans get a belated Christmas gift in the form of their first on-field meeting…with they be proven naughty or nice? This is another reunion game for Saleh, who was Jacksonville’s linebackers coach for three seasons, as well as receiver Keelan Cole, who joined the Jets after four seasons.

Week 17: 1/2 vs. Tampa Bay

1 p.m, ET, Fox

The Tom Brady nightmare continues for the Jets, who welcome in the defending champions for their final home game of the year. Despite Brady’s stellar record against the Jets (29-7, his second-best win tally against any non-Buffalo opponent), he’ll have to help erase Tampa’s brutal history against green invaders: The Jets own a 10-2 advantage in the series, though the Bucs won the last matchup 15-10 in November 2017.

Week 18: 1/9 @ Buffalo

TBD

One can’t definitively tell the story of the Jets-Bills rivalry without bringing up a last-game-of-the-season meeting in Orchard Park. For their first Week 18 matchup, the Jets venture up to Western New York, where they’ve actually had some success at Highmark Stadium in recent times, winning three of their last five visits (albeit one being a different season finale tilt in 2019 with nothing on the line for either team).

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags