New York Jets fans have had to wait a long time to see Aaron Rodgers play at MetLife Stadium, and the four games he played in last season don’t count.

If this is what Jets fans can expect the rest of the season, it’s going to be a fun ride.

Rodgers looked to be back in his element, the Jets offense was solid across the board and the defense was absolutely dominant in crushing the New England Patriots for a 24-3 win. Despite being ridiculed in the offseason, the Patriots beat the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 and lost in overtime to the Seattle Seahawks last week. They haven’t been bad. On Thursday night, the Patriots were absolutely outclassed. With 4:24 left in the game and the score already decided, the Jets had 400 yards of offense to the Patriots’ 93. That should tell us a lot about the Jets.

The Jets have had miserable quarterback play the past two seasons, but have still won seven games each season thanks to a great defense and some star power at the skill positions. When the Jets and their fans dreamed of how good they could be with above-average quarterback play, they envisioned what we saw Thursday night. Rodgers completed 27 of 35 passes for 281 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.

In the third quarter, the home crowd started an “Aaron Rodgers!” chant. Rodgers motioned for the Jets fans to be quiet because the offense had the ball. They kept up the chant for a while longer.

Jets sharp from the start

The night started well for the Jets. Rodgers was clearly in shape and threw in rhythm. A first drive stalled due to a holding penalty, but the second drive ended with an Allen Lazard touchdown by Rodgers. The third drive ended with a rushing touchdown by Breece Hall.

Rodgers is the Jets’ spotlight player, and he looked great Thursday night. Rodgers may not have the 98 mph fastball he had when he won four MVPs, but it’s still in the mid-90s. Rodgers sees the field well and can still deliver passes with more than enough velocity to get the job done. Rodgers completed 12 of his first 13 passes for 135 yards as the Jets held a 14-0 lead. He had 170 yards at halftime.

The most surprising thing Thursday night was how well Rodgers moved. He’s 40 and isn’t going to impact a game by running, as he did when he was at his physical best, but it was questionable whether a 40-year-old quarterback fresh off an Achilles injury would have any functional mobility. Rodgers ran for a first down on a 5-yard scramble on the Jets’ first drive. He moved around in the pocket when he needed to and threw along the way. One of his best plays came in the second half, when the Patriots sent a blitzer on third down and, as the pressure mounted, Rodgers got outside the pocket and hit tight end Tyler Conklin for 18 yards along the way. Rodgers showed Thursday night that his mobility isn’t really an issue.

And one of the promising aspects of Thursday night’s win was the help for their quarterback.

Other Jets stars come through

The Jets have a very good roster and it showed against the Patriots. Hall is one of the best backs in the NFL and rookie Braelon Allen looked great when he gave Hall a chance. New York had 88 rushing yards in the first half. Garrett Wilson is a great receiver but had a touch matchup with cornerback Christian Gonzalez, so Lazard, Mike Williams and Conklin made plays. And Wilson eventually got into the end zone on a short touchdown to give New York a 21-3 lead. The offensive line performed well against a solid Patriots front seven, opening holes in the running game and keeping Rodgers clean for the most part. The only bad news of the night was that the Jets lost right tackle Morgan Moses with a knee injury late in the third quarter.

The Jets defense has never really been in question, although it wasn’t great in the opener against the San Francisco 49ers. New York seemed to be at its usual level of shutting down the Patriots. New England had just 40 yards in the first half. The Jets blitzed often and the Patriots couldn’t protect Jacoby Brissett. For the final few minutes of the game, the Patriots put No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye in for his first NFL snaps. The Jets had possession of the ball for more than 10 minutes in each of the first three quarters, in part because the defense didn’t let New England move the ball.

Much has been made of the Jets betting all their chips on a run with Rodgers. If it didn’t work this season, the Jets would be making major changes on all fronts next season. And it hasn’t looked great through the first two weeks. But with Rodgers running around and finding receivers on Thursday night, and the defense still as stifling as ever, it looked like it might all be worth it in the end.