There was a brief moment, midway through the first half, when, if you happen to be a Jets fan, you could experience that rarest of Jets emotions in the last 14 years: hope. Optimism. Positivity. The defense had made a stop, but froze when Breece Hall dropped one deep inside their own zone.

Then Aaron Rodgers turned the clock back 7 minutes and 7 seconds.

Bing.

Pop.

Beep.

Boo.

And suddenly Hall was in the end zone, and the Jets were up 7-3. All across New York, Jets fans were nearly dizzy.

“THIS is what a real quarterback looks like?!?!?”

That was the message in thousands of text threads, in hundreds of saloons and dens and living rooms. Rodgers made it look easy, but so did Garrett Wilson. And so did Hall. And so did the offensive line. It was amazing. It was remarkable.

It was an aberration. We know that now. We know that what followed was a humiliating 32-19 drubbing that was impossible to justify, that ended with Rodgers on the bench, that made the 3,000-mile flight home a little more uncomfortable because the plane had to be filled with far more doubts as it flew east than it did as it flew west.

The offense managed just one more scoring drive after the 49ers had taken a 26-7 lead. The defense — which has received so much praise — was an embarrassment, flamed by a San Francisco offense that missed Christian McCaffrey, the No. 1 pick in a million fantasy football drafts.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Here’s what the defense did after that first stop:

Goal.

Goal.

Landing.

Goal.

Landing.

Goal.

Goal.

Goal.

And finally, a knee, as time expired. That was a sack. You want to be an elite defense? Nobody expects you to take out the Niners. Hell — nobody expected the Jets to beat the Niners, even without McCaffrey. It wasn’t all that surprising that Rodgers and the offense didn’t look sharp for much of the night. After all, he had run a total of four plays in nearly two years.

But the defense?

Defense is supposed to travel.

And if this If you want to be considered one of the best in the business, it has to be better than that. Has to. Listen to this: After the Jets took a 7-3 lead, the 49ers made 44 of the next 51 plays of the game. Think about that. Forty of 51.

It’s a miracle the final score wasn’t worse.

No one was happy about this. Well, almost no one. It’s likely that Haason Reddick was thrilled, and the only person happier than him was his agent. Up until Monday, it seemed like he had little leverage in this salary dispute with the Jets. Now, it’s hard to believe he won’t be signed by lunchtime.

So that is the case.

And then there’s this: There are 16 games left on the schedule, and this could be the toughest test the Jets face at the end of the season. Next week is Tennessee, and if you saw the Titans on Sunday, you have to believe the Jets can do well in Nashville.

Of course, it’s worth noting that Tennessee probably watched this game, too. And must be thinking much the same thing.

That means next week’s game might not be a must-have — it’s hard to tag a game this early — but it’s the closest we’ll get. Good. After this disaster, it’s good to see what the Jets can do when they’re staring into the abyss. It’s got to be something a little more impressive than when they were staring at Brock Purdy.