There was a flash in the third quarter.

The New York Jets realized why they paid so much to trade for Aaron Rodgers, why their hopes were so high last season before he tore his Achilles tendon, and why simply bringing in Rodgers in place of his predecessor Zach Wilson this year was a drastic enough change to ignite a spark.

Rodgers dropped back and paid no attention to the pocket collapsing around him. He treated running back Breece Hall like the receiver he was imitating, and Hall snagged a contested end zone catch for a 26-yard touchdown.

With 12:13 minutes left in the third quarter, the Jets took the lead for the first time.

But the game management was precarious.

The Jets ultimately defeated the Tennessee Titans 24-19 and improved their record to .500 ahead of Thursday night’s league game against the New England Patriots.

They managed to do this despite a stuttering passing game and especially despite a stuttering passing game into the depth.

Rodgers completed just three passes of more than nine air yards on a day where he completed 18 of 30 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns. But a strong performance from the Jets’ running back duo, coupled with an up-and-down performance from Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis, gave the Jets the lead.

Hall, who played well last season in his comeback from a torn ACL, was the Jets’ key player with 114 yards from the offensive zone and the touchdown catch from the air.

The Jets also showed unexpected confidence in rookie running back Braelon Allen, who scored the first touchdown with a 12-yard touchdown after Rodgers passed the ball to him behind the line of scrimmage. Allen later scored the game-winning 20-yard touchdown by fighting his way through defenders on the ground.

Tennessee blew a lead for the second week in a row, and Levis also suffered a costly turnover for the second straight game. After throwing a pick-six for the Chicago Bears in the opener, Levis fumbled trying to avoid a sack and threw an interception on his next snap when Jets cornerback Brandin Echols ripped a long pass out of the hands of Titans receiver Treylon Burks.

Tennessee’s biggest moment of the game came when Ridley caught a 40-yard pass from Levis between Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner and safety Chuck Clark.

Tennessee ultimately had a chance to catch up until the final 17 seconds of the game, but a pass out of bounds, a sack and a dropped pass by Tyler Boyd completed Tennessee’s final drive.

The Jets’ defense looked better than it did in Week 1 against the 49ers, but also lost linebacker CJ Moseley and cornerback Jermaine Johnson to injury.

Johnson was quickly taken out of the squad due to an Achilles tendon injury.

Levis completed 19 of 28 passes for 129 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He ran four times for 38 yards and dropped the ball once.

Titans running back Tony Pollard added 40 receiving yards to go with 62 rushing yards, while Ridley caught four of six passes for 77 yards and the touchdown.