We’ll start with the bad news for the Jets. Their performance on defense against the 49ers was abysmal.
San Francisco deserves credit for how easily they were able to move the ball, particularly on the ground. But the surprise of the night was the complete lack of resistance offered up by the Jets D as well as the absence of any pass rush.
Allowing 8 straight scoring drives (with 5 of those drives eating up a minimum of 4 minutes and 47 seconds) is no way to win a football game.
The good news for the Jets is that they got an answer to their biggest question entering the night: What would their 40-year old quarterback look like in his first game back from an Achilles injury and his first extended action in almost 2 years?
The answer is that Aaron Rodgers looked pretty good. It’s clear that he can still sling it. Quite frankly, he was throwing the ball like he did 3 years ago. I’m referring to his 2021 MVP season, the year prior to his final run with the Packers that was plagued by uncharacteristic misfires, largely due to a broken thumb on his throwing hand.
Rodgers didn’t carve up the 49ers by any means, and he certainly wasn’t perfect. He finished the night 13 of 21 for 167 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. But that included 2 drops by Allen Lazard and Breece Hall, as well as another should-be completion to Garrett Wilson, who failed to drag his second foot near the sidelines when he easily could have.
But the positive signs were there. It started on the Jets’ third drive of the game, which ate up 7 minutes and finished with a Breece Hall touchdown.
This first play was a 3rd-and-8. Rodgers noticed the 49ers were in single-high with 1-on-1’s across the board. So he targeted Garrett Wilson running a slot fade against Deommodore Lenoir:
That’s a perfect throw with just the flick of his wrist. No one is better at taking advantage of 1-on-1 matchups and completing passes into tiny windows. If a defender’s back is turned to Rodgers, his receiver is open.
On this 3rd-and-7 a few plays later, the Jets came out in an empty formation and put a tight end and running back on the perimeter to either side of the field. The 49ers matched up with cornerbacks over them, an indicator of zone: