The NFL has turned its schedule release into one of the biggest events of the offseason.

A big reason why it is so popular is fans love to go game by game in May and decide how many wins and losses their favorite team is going to have.

This, of course, is a pointless exercise because there are so many unknown factors in May about these games. It is hard to predict what will happen in these games minutes before they are played, never mind months before.

But now we have four weeks of information about all of the NFL teams. We can see which teams look better than expected and which look worse. We have seen some season-changing injuries already (sorry, Jets fans).

With all of the information gathered in the first month of the season, let’s look ahead to the rest of the Jets schedule and see how the perception of their opponents has changed and how that affects the likelihood of a Jets win.

The perception of the Jets has been drastically changed with the injury to Aaron Rodgers, so that’s also a factor, but for this exercise, let’s focus just on how the view of the opponents may be different.

Oct. 8 at Broncos

The preseason story about the Broncos was how much of a difference Sean Payton could make as the team’s new head coach. Unfortunately for Denver, Payton does not coach Denver’s defense, which is the worst in football. The Broncos gave up 70 points two weeks ago to the Dolphins and even the Bears scored 28 points on them on Sunday.

At 1-3, they look like a team the Jets can beat. That was the feeling in the offseason, and it is probably even stronger now with how poorly the Broncos defense is playing.

On the other side of the ball, Russell Wilson seems to be improving, so this will be a good test for the Jets defense.

Oct. 15 vs. Eagles

The Eagles are the defending NFC champions, so the expectation has been they will be one of the best teams in the NFL. They are 4-0, so they are proving those expectations correct.

The Eagles have been winning kind of ugly, though. They squeaked by the Commanders in overtime this week, and three of their four wins were by six points or fewer.

The sign of a good team is when you can win games without playing your best, and the Eagles are doing that. The Jets might be catching the Eagles at a good time.

You suspect, though, that Philly is going to really hit its stride at some point. It reminds me of many Patriots teams that did not play their best in September or October, but looked unbeatable in November and December. This feels like a definite Jets loss, but maybe they can keep it close.

Oct. 29 at Giants

Man, this game has lost some juice. With both the Jets and Giants at 1-3 right now, this duel will be the butt of a lot of jokes.

The Giants are playing well below expectations so far. Coming off a playoff appearance, expectations were high for Brian Daboll in his second season as Giants coach. But the Giants have looked like a mess so far and their offense is barely functioning.

We’ll see what happens over the next few weeks, but based on the Jets’ competitive loss to the Chiefs and the Giants getting blown out by the Seahawks, this feels like a game the Jets should win.

Nov. 6 vs. Chargers

The Chargers are a tough team to figure out. They are 2-2, and have beaten the Vikings and the Raiders in the last two weeks. But Las Vegas was starting a rookie backup quarterback in his first NFL game — and it was still a close game. It feels as if all the Chargers do is play tight games, and over the first four weeks, those games have been decided by 2, 3, 4 and 7 points.

But Justin Herbert is a star and Khalil Mack reminded everyone what he can do on Sunday.

Before the season, the Chargers were viewed as a playoff team. Now, they are tough to figure out. The Jets should be underdogs in this game, but they certainly can compete with the Chargers.

Nov. 12 at Raiders

This game is currently scheduled for “Sunday Night Football,” but it seems like a definite candidate to get flexed. The Raiders are 1-3 and things seem to be deteriorating quickly for Josh McDaniels.

Jimmy Garoppolo does not look like the answer at QB, and he is now dealing with a concussion. Josh Jacobs is averaging 2.7 yards per carry, and it feels as if it is only a matter of time before Davante Adams wants out of Vegas.

This is another winnable game for the Jets if they play like they did against the Chiefs.

Nov. 19 at Bills

After stumbling in Week 1 against the Jets, the Bills now look like the team everyone expected in the preseason. They just posted an impressive win over the Dolphins with Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs leading the way in a 48-20 victory.

It is hard to see the Jets winning this game. The Bills are going to be hyper-focused after losing to Zach Wilson and Co. in Week 1 at MetLife. The Jets have not won in Buffalo since the final game of the 2019 season, when the Bills pulled most of their starters. It would be shocking if the Jets could sweep the season series for the first time since 2016.

Nov. 24 vs. Dolphins

This is another national television game for the Jets, this time on Black Friday. I’m sure it is going to get a big rating, and the Jets better hope they don’t get embarrassed.

The Dolphins look better than expected. Tua Tagovailoa has been rolling, and the Dolphins offense has been tough. They hit some turbulence Sunday in the loss to the Bills, but you have to expect they are going to recover from that.

This is a long way away and things might change, but right now this appears to be a difficult matchup for the Jets.

Dec. 3 vs. Falcons

Since the Jets schedule was released, this felt like the beginning of a soft spot in it, and it still does.

The Falcons are 2-2, but their offense has looked terrible the last two weeks. Desmond Ridder is already in danger of being benched, so you have to expect Taylor Heinecke will be the quarterback by this part of the schedule.

The Jets need to beat up bad teams at home. If they are not expected to win this game, things have gone really badly.

Dec. 10 vs. Texans

This might be the most surprising team on the Jets schedule. Could the Texans actually be good?

They are 2-2 after beating the Jaguars and Steelers in the past two weeks. C.J. Stroud looks great. He has not thrown an interception yet and has six touchdown passes.

Can they keep it up? We’ll see, but this looked like a definite Jets win in May and now it feels like a toss-up.

Dec. 17 at Dolphins

See above for the Dolphins analysis. Could Miami sweep the season series?

Dec. 24 vs. Commanders

Washington is hard to figure out. The 2-2 Commanders have beaten a couple of bad teams in the Cardinals and Broncos and lost to a couple of good teams in the Bills and Eagles.

This seemed like a win when the schedule came out, but as of today, it feels very hard to predict.

If the Jets are in playoff contention, this Christmas Eve game could have huge implications.

Dec. 28 at Browns

We’ll know a lot about this one if it remains on “Thursday Night Football.” The NFL can flex out Thursday night games for the first time this year. The decision has to be made several weeks in advance so fans know whether the game is on Thursday or Sunday.

If the Jets and Browns are in contention entering December, this game could have a big-time feel. If not, expect it to be at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

The Browns defense has been better than expected, but their offense still is not functioning at a high level. Deshaun Watson played well against the Titans two weeks ago, but missed last week with a shoulder injury. If Watson finds his game, this will be a tough one for the Jets.

Jan. 6 or 7 at Patriots

Can the Jets end the streak? That is going to be the dominant storyline … again. The Jets have lost 15 straight to the Patriots, the last one coming last month at MetLife Stadium.

The Jets are still in disbelief that they lost that 15-10 game. The Patriots got destroyed in Dallas this past Sunday, and they do not look like a good football team.

Everything says the Jets should win this one except they seem unable to beat Bill Belichick.

Summary: There are only four games left on the schedule where you would give the Jets little to no chance. The rest are either games they should or could win. That means there is still hope for the Jets to get eight to nine wins.

Want to catch a game? The Jets schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.

Superstar stoppers?

The Jets defense has been a far cry from the dominant force they thought they were going to be when they were throwing around comparisons to the ’85 Bears.

Still, you do have to give the defense some credit with how they have played against two of the best quarterbacks in football — Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.

Here are Allen’s numbers against the Jets compared to how he’s fared in his other three games this season:

vs. Jets — 29-41 (70.7 percent), 236 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs, 62.7 rating
vs. others — 72-94 (76.6 percent), 812 yards, 8 TDs, 1 INT, 125.8 rating

Here are Mahomes’ numbers:

vs. Jets — 18-30 (60 percent), 203 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs, 63.6 rating
vs. others — 74-113 (65.5 percent), 803 yards, 7 TDs, 2 INTs, 99.5 rating

To only allow each of those guys to throw one touchdown pass and to pick them off multiple times is a huge achievement and should be noted.

Stat’s so

Sunday’s game against the Chiefs was clearly Zach Wilson’s best game as a pro. It made me wonder what other games are in the conversation.

Here are Wilson’s top five games by quarterback rating:

Oct. 1, 2023 (vs. Chiefs): 28-39, 245 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 105.2 rating, L, 23-20
Nov. 6, 2022 (vs. Bills): 18-25, 154 yards, 1 TDs, 0 INTs, 101.1 rating, W, 20-17
Oct. 9, 2022 (vs. Dolphins): 14-21, 210 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 99.3 rating, W, 40-17
Oct. 3, 2021 (vs. Titans): 21-34, 297 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INTs, 97.3 rating, W, 27-24
Dec. 18, 2022 (vs. Lions): 18-35, 317 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INTs, 89.8 rating, L, 20-17

SOURCE: Pro Football Reference