Aaron Rodgers' last hurrah will be glorious if he manages to revive Jets

Staggering to the finish line last season, the Jets lost six straight games from Week 13 onward to bomb out of the playoff picture. Their NFL postseason drought, the longest in American sports, reached a dozen years.

New York's low point in 2022 somehow preceded the losing streak. Zach Wilson passed for 77 yards in Week 11 in an unsightly 10-3 defeat to the Patriots. The Jets didn't move the ball past their 36-yard-line in the second half. A defensive masterclass went to waste when New England scored on a punt return with five seconds left.

Days later in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers confirmed he'd been hurting. The four-time MVP quarterback played with a broken throwing thumb for more than a month as the Packers slipped in the standings. Jordan Love relieved him in an ensuing game. The Packers got hot in December but missed the postseason for the fourth time in Rodgers' 15 years as the starter.

Last season frustrated Rodgers and made him look diminished, but that's in the past. As the Packers begin a new era with Love, Rodgers aligned with the Jets to work toward ending skids that date to 2011. A second championship has eluded Rodgers, the NFL's oldest QB, for as long as his new squad has been absent from the playoffs.

Rodgers has a flair for drama. He led the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XLV as a No. 6 seed before losing four subsequent NFC title games. He was fined for violating league COVID-19 policies in the midst of his latest MVP year. He contemplated retiring this winter during a stay in a 300-square-foot dark room in Oregon. Rodgers emerged into the light, then engineered his move to the Jets upon hearing from his agent that Green Bay was shopping him.

The teams sealed the blockbuster trade on the eve of the draft, reuniting Rodgers with Nathaniel Hackett. The Jets offensive coordinator held the same job in Green Bay before his disastrous tenure as Broncos head coach lasted only 15 games. Excited to team up again, Rodgers restructured his contract to accept a $35-million pay cut over the next two seasons, affording the Jets cap flexibility as they aim to contend.

Rodgers is wearing No. 8 in New York, the digit he donned at Cal two decades ago as a JUCO transfer from Butte Community College. He turns 40 in December. His window to win is now.

The Brett Favre parallels are rich and inescapable. Favre orchestrated a trade from Green Bay to the Jets in 2008 when his first-round understudy - Rodgers - overtook him as a fourth-year pro.

The fleeting partnership in New York disappointed. Favre played through a bicep tear, tossed as many interceptions (22) as touchdowns, and had to sign with the Vikings in 2009 to rejuvenate his career.

Rodgers departs Green Bay as the club's all-time passing touchdowns leader with 475. He needs to throw 34 TDs to vault Favre for fourth place on the NFL leaderboard.

Rodgers will eclipse Peyton Manning if he's productive with the Jets for two seasons. Starring for three might springboard him past Drew Brees. That would line up with Rodgers' preferred timeline to hand the reins back to Wilson.

Rodgers can accomplish more in the NFL but has nothing left to prove. Except for Manning and Tom Brady, no quarterback has built a stronger case to be enshrined in Canton, according to Pro Football Reference's Hall of Fame Monitor. Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, and John Elway, who played in less pass-happy eras, all trail him in the rating by some distance.

Rodgers' career trumps Favre's, but they remain tied in titles. A one-ring wonder in Green Bay, Favre's regrettable cross-body interception cost the Vikings their chance to win the 2009 NFC Championship Game.

If all goes to plan in New York, Rodgers would become the second QB after Brady to play in the Super Bowl in his 40s, and he'd emulate Brady and Manning by leading a second team to the Lombardi Trophy. He upped the degree of difficulty by moving to the AFC. Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Patrick Mahomes all crowd his path to the big game.

After Brady and Rodgers, the league's oldest passer last season was Joe Flacco, who underwhelmed in his brief stint as Jets starter at age 37.

Quarterbacked in 2022 by Wilson, Flacco, Mike White, and Chris Streveler, the Jets ranked last in completion percentage (56.9%), second-last in touchdown throws (14), and fourth-last in expected points added per dropback (-0.081) as tracked by Ben Baldwin. No wonder New York failed to score a TD in an NFL-high five games.

The QBs' misfires intensified an old problem. Consistently unwatchable on offense, the Jets have produced the fewest points in the NFL over the past 10 seasons, per Stathead. They're also last in that span in completion rate and interceptions. They've finished in the top 10 in scoring once since 1998, rising to ninth in the Favre season.

Defense - the backbone of Rex Ryan's dearly remembered playoff teams - is a franchise strength again.

The Jets rocketed from 32nd to fourth in points allowed over Robert Saleh's first two seasons as head coach. Sack artist Quinnen Williams sparked New York to PFF's No. 3 team pass-rush grade in 2022. Cornerback Sauce Gardner's elite 45.9% reception rate when targeted guaranteed he'd be the Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Adding playmakers was an offseason priority. The Jets signed Dalvin Cook, a stalwart 1,000-yard rusher and cap casualty in Minnesota, to split backfield touches with Breece Hall and Michael Carter. Budding superstar Garrett Wilson headlines a receiving corps that expanded to include former Packers wideouts Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, as well as Mecole Hardman, a two-time Super Bowl champ with the Chiefs.

The Jets believe Rodgers can rediscover his excellence. He owns the NFL's lowest career interception percentage (1.4%) and led all QBs in EPA/play in 2020 and 2021, per Baldwin's database. Rodgers was turnover-prone and cratered to 21st in EPA/play last season yet connected on as many big-time throws as Mahomes (33) to tie for fourth league-wide, per PFF. His targets had a 7.9% drop rate, way up from 4.2% the previous season.

Whether the offensive line can protect Rodgers is an urgent question. The Buccaneers sacked him six times on 10 dropbacks during a mid-August joint practice. Compelled by the NFL to participate in "Hard Knocks," Saleh berated the unit in an early episode.

The 2023 schedule is another challenge. The Jets host the Bills, Chiefs, and Eagles and travel to play the Cowboys before their Week 7 bye rolls around. Eight of their first 11 games pit them against teams that made the playoffs last season. Shutdown cornerback Jalen Ramsey, the Dolphins' marquee winter acquisition, should be back from meniscus surgery in time to face the Jets in Week 15.

When the AFC East realigned in 2002, the Jets promptly won their lone division title since Joe Namath's heyday. Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith, and Ryan Fitzpatrick quarterbacked New York to second-place finishes. Surpassing Miami and New England this season would almost certainly net the Jets a wild-card berth, the first step toward threatening the Chiefs' AFC supremacy.

Rodgers' arrival empowers the franchise to dream big. He pondered his future in the dark and pinpointed where he wanted to be. How will he perform in Year 19 as the lights brighten?

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.