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Is the 49ers-Jets Monday Night Game the Most Intriguing Week 1 Matchup?

49ers-Jets will have so many more storylines than the return of Aaron Rodgers to the Bay Area. We've seen that story plenty of times. It's played out. Old news.

Grant Cohn

Aug 24, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh looks on against the New York Giants during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
Aug 24, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh looks on against the New York Giants during the first half at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images / Rich Barnes-Imagn Images
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Finally, the NFL's regular season is almost here.

The first game will be Thursday night and will feature the Chiefs and the Ravens. Then on Monday night, the 49ers will host the New York Jets. And according to Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame, these are the two most intriguing Week 1 matchups.

"It’s Aaron Rodgers and the Jets, Part 2," writes Verderame. "New York is finally healthy again, and will be looking to win the AFC East for the first time since 2002. And for kicks, Rodgers’s return comes against the 49ers, who famously bypassed him in the ’05 draft. It’s maybe the toughest possible challenge for New York, and a barometer for the defending NFC champs."

Verderame ranks the 49ers-Jets game as the second-most intriguing Week 1 matchup behind Kansas City-Baltimore, but I disagree with him.

49ers-Jets will have so many more storylines than the return of Aaron Rodgers to the Bay Area. We've seen that story plenty of times. It's played out. Old news.

But Robert Saleh is facing the 49ers for the first time since he left them to become head coach of the Jets. It will be fascinating to see Kyle Shanahan match wits with his former defensive coordinator.

In addition, former 49ers defensive tackles Javon Kinlaw and Solomon Thomas currently play for the Jets. So this game is kind of like a reunion. And if Saleh pulls off the upset, he instantly will put himself int he conversation for Coach of the Year. If he loses, New York reporters will put him on the hot seat.

This will be the best game in the league this weekend.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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