There were 15 completions in 18 passing attempts, three touchdown passes and 179 yards through the air.
It all came in a one-sided second half.
This was the Aaron Rodgers the Jets waited to see.
After a shaky first half, the four-time MVP found his groove, helping to deliver a much-needed 21-13 victory over the AFC South-leading Texans at MetLife Stadium on Thursday night.
Rodgers became the first Jets quarterback to throw for three scores in a single game since Mike White did it against the Bears on Nov. 27, 2022.
He threw two of those to Garrett Wilson and another to Davante Adams.
“Night and day,” Adams said when asked about Rodgers’ second half performance. “I think that was everybody. We all kind of had our hiccups early. [No.] 12 … 8 … flipped it around. Still not used to that [new number]. He flipped it around and we were able to finally figure it out.”
There were a number of positives for the Jets as they snapped a five-game losing streak.
The defense registered a season-high eight sacks and limited the Texans to two second-half field goals.
Adams and Wilson finally looked like the dynamic tandem the Jets hoped they would become after they made the move to bring in Adams from the Raiders.
But Rodgers looking like Rodgers was at the top of the list.
“I played about as bad as I could in the first half, and I knew it had to get better from there,” said Rodgers, who was 7-for-14 for 32 yards in the first half.
It had been a struggle for him. During the losing streak, he threw nearly as many interceptions (six) as touchdown passes (seven).
He had chances late in several of the losses to pull out victories, but couldn’t do it.
That concerning trend came to an end against the Titans.
With the game on the line, he made big plays, and the Jets now can think about turning their year around.
“It was kind of season on the line there in the second half. Obviously, we wouldn’t have been mathematically eliminated. But, mentally, to go 2-7 would’ve been real tough,” Rodgers said. “Hopefully, this gives us the confidence that we can beat anybody, because we feel we can. The way we played on offense in the second half is the way we’ve been waiting for this offense to kind of wake up. I was close to perfection as I needed to be, but that’s the standard I need to play at.”
