Over the past dozen years, New York Jets fans have endured the worst stretch in franchise history — which is saying a lot. After losing the 2010 AFC Championship game, the team has not made the playoffs — the longest active streak in professional sports. So, like many of my fellow Jets fans, I was elated at the Aaron Rodgers trade. Quibble if you want about the cost. But the bottom line is that even if he’s not playing at his peak, adding him to a roster of young promising players and a stellar defense means that the team has a realistic shot of being a contender for the first time in a long time. Alas, nothing can come easy for the Jets. The NFL schedules were released yesterday, and the Jets have one of the most difficult in the league (depending on how you measure things it’s anywhere from the second hardest to the sixth hardest).

But it’s especially brutal in the beginning. Within the first six weeks, the Jets play both Super Bowl teams (Chiefs and Eagles) the team with the best record in the AFC last season (Bills) as well as another playoff team in the Cowboys. Even the relatively easier games are against the Patriots (Jets never have an easy time beating Bill Belichick) and the Broncos (Sean Payton could revive Russell Wilson this year).

There are a lot of offseason questions facing whether the Jets defense can replicate last year’s success, whether its offensive line can hold up, and whether Rodgers can return to form at age 39 coming off a subpar season. Based on the schedule, we should know whether the Jets are for real pretty early: