Jets won’t play any international games in 2023

The NFL is announcing its 2023 schedule over the next two days. Wednesday morning came the first batch of games as the league unveiled games that will be played in Europe. The slate does not include the Jets.

Notably, the other three teams in the AFC East all have a trip to Europe. The Bills will play the Jaguars in London on October 8. The Dolphins play the Chiefs in Frankfurt on November 5, and the Patriots play the Colts there one week later.

It probably will not make a huge difference, but it does seem like a marginal advantage for the Jets that their three division rivals need to make such a long trip while they do not.

The league usually allows the teams that go to Europe to pick its opponent the next week or choose to have a bye. The Packers infamously chose to play the Jets last year the week after they traveled to London instead of taking their bye. That move backfired as the Jets won in blowout fashion. I think we can assume the AFC East teams will not choose to play the Jets the week after their long trips.

The Jets have played two international regular season games in their history, a win over the Dolphins in 2015 and a loss to the Falcons in 2021. Both games took place in London.