San Francisco 49ers Vs. Kansas City Chiefs - Kym Fortino/San Francisco 49ers
The first 2024 matchup for Monday Night Football has officially been announced. The New York Jets will head to San Francisco to face the 49ers. The 49ers are coming off of a Super Bowl loss, while the Jets are looking for the season they never got in 2023. Here is a way-too-early look at the 2024 matchup ahead of the official NFL schedule release.
Recap of 49ers 2023 Season
The 2023 season for the San Francisco 49ers ended in another heartbreak. Despite that, the 49ers had a big regular season. There were multiple records broken on offense, such as Christian McCaffrey breaking the record for most single-season touchdowns, including playoffs, at 24. Quarterback, Brock Purdy also now holds the franchise record for most regular season passing yards. He reached 4,280 yards in 2023, according to ESPN. These are just two of the numerous records that the 49ers broke. The San Francisco 49ers 2023 record ended at 12-5, and they were earned the number one seed in the NFC.
When it comes to the playoffs, the 49ers only had to play two games. They were against the Greenbay Packers and Detroit Lions. They were not easy by any means, and both required the toughest play until the final whistle. One takeaway from those losses is that the 49ers finally showed that they can make comebacks. This is something they have not been able to do in the fourth quarter under head coach, Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers did this twice, the most impressive being against the Lions.
The 49ers reached the Super Bowl but lost devastatingly in overtime. The final score of the game was 25-22. A key injury in that game that must be mentioned is linebacker Dre Greenlaw. The linebacker tore his Achilles and will not be able to start the 2024 season with the team. Now, all eyes turn to the 2024 season, and what the San Francisco 49ers will be. In this 2024 matchup, it will be important to come out strong.
Recap of Jets 2023 Season
The 2023 season took a turn for the worse just a couple of minutes into the first game. While Jets fans may not want the reminds, there was an immense amount of hype surrounding New York heading into 2023. The team finally had their quarterback. They opened up the 2023 season on Monday Night Football. Aaron Rodgers did not even complete a pass before eating his Achilles. On just his fourth play as the Jets’ quarterback, his season was over.
The Jets ended up finishing their season 7-10. The team’s defense should still be highlighted though. Despite the record, the Jets have a strong defensive unit. New York had no backup plan at quarterback aside from Zach Wilson. Now, Wilson is no longer on the Jets, and it is once again Rodgers’ team. Perhaps things will be better in this 2024 matchup of Monday Night Football.
2024 Matchup: Early Look
The New York Jets will head to Levi Stadium to face the San Francisco 49ers on Monday, September 9th. This will be Rodgers’ first game since the first week of the 2023 season. The 49ers offense will face a tough defense against the Jets. It should pan out to be a great matchup. The 49ers will have most of their 2023 starting offense returning, and the Jets arguably improved on the defensive side of the ball. The biggest question mark for the 49ers offense is who their tight ends will be outside of George Kittle. The Jets defense improved, adding players such as Haason Reddick. This is set up to be a fun 2024 matchup.
On the other side of things, this will be the first regular season game for Aaron Rodgers in a year. He will be going up against Fred Warner and Nick Bosa on the 49ers defense. The Jets offensive line did improve on paper, drafting Olu Fashanu, but there will be little time to adjust in week one. The 49ers have some young players on the defense as well that will need to step up. Losing Greenlaw, another linebacker must step up where he is missing. The 49ers also lost Arik Armstead to the Jacksonville Jaguars, so there will be question marks about how the defensive line is. The 49ers also have a new defensive coordinator, Nick Sorensen make his regular-season debut. For both the Jets and the 49ers, hopefully, the teams can utilize preseason to get the young players ready for the regular season.
Of course, it is May, and the game is not until September. The 49ers will most likely head into the game as favorites, but this is just an early look and a way to get excited for the 2024 season. This 2024 matchup should be a fun one as these teams take the field for the first time. Both teams will be looking to make up for what they lost the year prior. The full regular season schedule will be announced Wednesday, May 15th at 8 P.M. Eastern.
