You can’t begin to establish a New York legacy until the roar of your home crowd explodes in your eardrums and resonates throughout the stadium and the city.
When the love story you imagined when you first arrived in New York extends beyond running through the tunnel with an American flag on 9/11 and you’re his quarterback from start to finish in that home opener, only to finally bathe in a warm chorus of JETS, JETS, JETS, JETS after another.
Welcome home, Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers’ collapse to the ground with a torn Achilles tendon four games into his 2023 MetLife debut was hell…for him, for the franchise, for the tortured fan base.
This game — Jets 24, Patriots 3 — was heaven.
The stadium Aaron Rodgers calls JetLife.
Emerging from the darkness, just like he did.
He feared, in his darkest hours, that he would never be able to come back to the end, even if he tried to show it.
They fear that a forty-year-old with a rehabilitated Achilles tendon will not be their savior.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the Jets without a confusing plot.
As in: Why did Rodgers push Saleh to the sideline and lash out at him after the coach appeared ready to hug him following Breece Hall’s 1-yard TD run in the second quarter?
Could Saleh have banned any future travel to Egypt during the mandatory mini-camp?
In any case, there was Rodgers, back chasing his second Super Bowl title, everyone born after January 12, 1969 chasing their first Super Bowl alongside him.
It was General Rodgers (27-35, 281 yards, 2 TDs).
He may have reminded some of MVP Rodgers.
Life begins at 40?
“Aaron Rodgers… Aaron Rodgers… Aaron Rodgers,” they chanted late in the third quarter. And again after a personal foul by Josh Uche sent Rodgers sprawling on a 22-yard pass over the middle to Tyler Conklin. And again after an 18-yard pass to Mike Williams.
All those years dominated by the Patriots, I hoped that one day they could fight Tom Brady and Bill Belichick with someone like Aaron Rodgers.
A quarterback worth fearing.
The Jets ended the Pats’ 15-game hold on them without Rodgers in the 2023 regular-season finale.
Now, with Rodgers, their streak is 2, and it should be 3 after their next meeting.
Here was Rodgers, the third-down machine, surgically dissecting the Patriots with his arm and his mind, moving effortlessly out of the pocket when necessary, giving the Jets defense, which might have killed the game for a moment like this a year ago, or years before that, a lead. A big lead.
This was the most efficient offense we’ve seen from Rodgers, with Williams, Conklin and Allen Lazard involved early along with Hall and Braelon Allen, and the final piece of the puzzle was the start of smoothing out the timing with Garrett Wilson on a perfect 2-yard TD throw inside the right pylon to Christian Gonzalez.
We even saw Rodgers run 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 Alex Austin’s desperate clutches for the 10-yard TD that made it 7 Jets, 0 Patriots.
Lazard made sure to present the ball to his former Packers teammate now that he had thrown his first MetLife Jets TD pass.
Artist at work:
Rodgers pulled left on a third-and-7 from the 13 and found Lazard, suddenly a YAC maniac, for 17 yards.
A wrist flick to Conklin over midfield on second-and-17 for 22. He set Hall up for the 1-yard TD run after a successful challenge by Saleh and it was Jets 14, Patriots 0.
Third-and-9 before the two-minute warning: Another wrister to Conklin for 22 yards up the middle.
Welcome home, Aaron Rodgers.
You can encourage him all you want. Apparently, he doesn’t need a hug from everyone.
