NY Jets could make history with proposed 17-game schedule

The NY Jets are set to embark on a 2021 season that will ideally bring with it significantly more success than the team managed in 2020.

After finishing with a disastrous 2-14 record a year ago, the Jets will surely be hoping for a better showing this upcoming season. And they could manage to make some history in the process as well.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Sunday that the NFL is expected to announce its expansion to a 17-game schedule later this week. With that, the Jets will need a 17th opponent to play.

NBC Sports’ Peter King made note of the format that the NFL will use to determine the scheduled opponents for said 17th game earlier this month. The Jets will have a chance to make history against their expected opponent.

The NY Jets can make history against the Philadelphia Eagles

King determined that the Jets’ 17th game of the season would be a home matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are notably the only NFL team the Jets have never beaten before.

The Jets hold a lifetime record of 0-11 against the Eagles with their last meeting coming back in October of 2019 when they fell 31-6 in one of the infamous Luke Falk games.

Assuming this projection is accurate, the Jets could make history and defeat the Eagles for the first time in 12 meetings.

The format is a relatively simple one that will see each team play a cross-conference division opponent that they played two seasons ago. So in the Jets’ case, that means they would play the NFC East as that’s the NFC division they played in 2019.

The specific opponent is determined by their place in the 2020 standings. Since the Jets and Eagles both finished last in their respective divisions in 2020, they would face each other in 2021.

In 2022, the Jets would face a team from the NFC West as that’s the NFC division they played in full this past season.

Aside from the Eagles, the Jets hold a poor lifetime record against the Baltimore Ravens, who they’ve only beaten twice in 11 meetings. They’re also just 3-11 against the San Francisco 49ers and 6-20 all-time against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

However, nothing comes close to their awful stretch of games against the Eagles.

The Jets will likely receive the opportunity the right their prior wrongs in another meeting against the Eagles in 2021.

Only time will tell if history repeats itself.