You can’t begin establishing a New York legacy until you get the roar of your home crowd exploding on your eardrum and reverberating through the stadium and the entire town.
When the love affair you imagined when you came to New York extended beyond running through the tunnel with an American flag on 9/11 and you are its quarterback from start to finish of this home opener, finally getting to bathe in one warm J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS chorus after the next.
Welcome home, Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers crumpling to the ground with his torn Achilles four plays into his 2023 debut at MetLife was hell … for him, for the franchise, for the tortured fan base.
This — Jets 24, Patriots 3 — was heaven.
The stadium Aaron Rodgers calls JetLife.
Emerging from the darkness, just as he did.
Him fearing during his darkest hours that he would never be able to make it all the way back as much as he tried to manifest it into existence.
Them fearing that a 40-year-old with a rehabbed 40-year-old Achilles might not be their savior.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the Jets without some confounding intrigue.
As in: Why did Rodgers push Saleh away on the sideline and flare at him after the coach appeared ready to hug him following a Breece Hall 1-yard TD run in the second quarter?
Could Saleh have banned all future trips to Egypt during mandatory minicamp?
At any rate, there was Rodgers, back chasing his second Super Bowl championship, everyone born after Jan. 12, 1969 chasing their first Super Bowl at his side.
He was General Rodgers (27-35, 281 yards, 2 TDs).
He may have reminded some of MVP Rodgers.
Life Begins at 40?
“Aa-ron Rodgers … Aa-ron Rodgers … Aa-ron Rodgers,” they chanted late in the third quarter. And again after a Josh Uche personal foul sent Rodgers sprawling on a 22-yard strike over the middle to Tyler Conklin. And again after an 18-yarder to Mike Williams.
All those years getting dominated by the Patriots, wishing that one day they could combat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick with someone like Aaron Rodgers.
A quarterback worthy of being feared.
The Jets had ended the Pats’ 15-game stranglehold over them without Rodgers in the 2023 regular-season finale.
Now, with Rodgers, their streak is 2, and it should be 3 after they meet the next time.
Here was Rodgers, third-down machine, surgically dissecting the Pats with his arm and with his mind, moving effortlessly out of the pocket when necessary, handing the Jets defense, which would have killed for a moment like this a year ago, or years before that, a lead. A big lead.
This was the most efficient we have seen the Rodgers offense, getting Williams and Conklin and Allen Lazard involved early with Hall and Braelon Allen, and the last piece to the puzzle was the start of smoothing out the timing with Garrett Wilson on a perfect 2-yard TD throw inside the right pylon against Christian Gonzalez.
We even witnessed Rodgers scampering out of harm’s way to the Jets sideline for 11 yards early in the third quarter.
Rodgers threw across the line of scrimmage to his left to Lazard, who eluded the desperate clutches of Alex Austin for the 10-yard TD that made it Jets 7, Patriots 0.
Lazard made sure he presented the ball to his old Packers teammate now that he had thrown his first Jets MetLife TD pass.
Artist at work:
Rodgers flushed left on third-and-7 from the 13 and found Lazard, suddenly a YAC maniac, for 17 yards.
A flick of the wrist to Conklin over the middle on second-and-17 for 22. It positioned Hall for the 1-yard TD run following a successful Saleh challenge and it was Jets 14, Patriots 0.
Third-and-9 before the two-minute warning: another flick of the wrist to Conklin for 22 yards over the middle.
Welcome home, Aaron Rodgers.
You can cheer him all you want. Apparently he doesn’t need a hug from everyone.