With the New York Jets schedule officially released this month, all that remains is to count down the days until that opening game against the Buffalo Bills – not too long now!

The 17-game schedule is full of bumper matchups, but we thought we’d break down five of the can’t miss contests for UK fans, especially given some of them might require some crafty planning of sleep schedules…

Week 1 – New York Jets vs Buffalo Bills – Tuesday 12 September, 1:15AM

We have to start at the beginning. A Monday Night Football matchup with back-to-back-to-back division champions the Buffalo Bills.

Aaron Rodgers’ first start as a New York Jet will come in front of a raucous MetLife Stadium crowd on national television, as the Jets look to repeat the trick from last season and beat Josh Allen and the Bills at home.

Fans in the UK: take Tuesday off work now. This one is going to be worth staying up for.

Week 4 – New York Jets vs Kansas City Chiefs – Monday 2 October, 1:20AM

It’s another late game, but you’d have to call this one ‘can’t miss’. The visit of the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, will take place on Sunday Night Football, as the Jets make their first appearance on SNF in over a decade.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are once again one of the favourites for the Lombardi Trophy, so if the Jets want to be considered serious contenders, this is a game where they will have the opportunity to lay down a marker.

The MetLife crowd is bound to be energised for this one, and we once again recommend a tactical day off on the Monday if you can…

Week 8 – New York Giants vs New York Jets – Sunday 29 October, 5PM

The New York Derby! For the first time since 2019, the Jets and Giants will go head-to-head in the regular season, as the Jets ‘travel’ to their crosstown rivals.

Off the bye week, and playing at the earlier time slot of 5pm UK due to the end of Daylight Savings, this will be a big game not just for city bragging rights, but to set the tone of the Jets second half of the season.

Week 12 – New York Jets vs Miami Dolphins – Friday 24 November, 8PM

The first Black Friday game in NFL history! The Jets will play host for another [quasi] prime time game in week 12, when the Dolphins come to town, at the UK-friendly Friday night time of 8pm.

The first of two contests with the Dolphins in a four-week stretch, this one could have major divisional ramifications if 2022 was any indicator.

Week 18 – New England Patriots vs New York Jets – TBD, TBD

Although we don’t yet know the date and time of this final week matchup, it’s still worth circling on the schedule.

The Jets haven’t beaten the Patriots in their previous 14 attempts, a dismal record stretching back to 2015. They will hope to get the monkey off their back in week three when the Patriots travel to MetLife, but regardless of how that result plays out, this game could be seismic in terms of implications.

Both teams have playoff aspirations in what looks set to be one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL, and the outcome from this one could decide the division winner, seedings or even wildcard spots in a crucial way. Plus, it’s always nice to beat the Pats.

Of course, there are plenty of other mouth-watering matchups on the schedule for this season, including prime time games with the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders as well as the visit of NFC champions the Philadelphia Eagles.

A reminder too that Sky Sports NFL will be showing live broadcast coverage of games each week including all prime time contests, talkSPORT will have exclusive radio rights to several Jets games and all of the action can also be found via GamePass International – more details to come on that front.

We’ll be keeping you up to date too with every moment of the action – so get your diaries prepped now as you won’t want to miss it.