Aaron Rodgers is officially a failed Jets savior

GLENDALE — Only the Jets could promise their tortured and tormented faithful a season of hope and great expectations and turn it into a Butt Fumble.

Only the Jets could turn a planned Desert Storm operation into a regular-season Mud Bowl.

So there was Aaron Rodgers, face down on the ground early in the third quarter at the Arizona 9-yard line as State Farm Stadium roared after failing twice on second-and-goal from the 3 and then losing a fumble on a sack and enough of his brain to require a visit to the tent for an examination.

By then, it was Cardinals 24, Jets 6 and well on its way to Cardinals 31, Jets 6.

Rodgers (22-35, 151 yards) was brought here to so much Savior fanfare to win these games, to laugh in the face of adversity, to lift all Jets in their desperate hour and instill belief in his huddle and throughout his team.

And so, the long, agonizing flight back home carried a future first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback and a season he has not saved and a team and a franchise he has been powerless to save from itself.

Same Older Rodgers, quarterback of Dead Team Walking.

Team Dysfunction, take a bow.

Woody Johnson, take a bow. Firing Robert Saleh hasn’t worked. Acquiring Davante Adams and Haason Reddick hasn’t worked.

And at 3-7, Aaron Rodgers hasn’t worked.

He has given us flashes of MVP Rodgers, but not nearly enough of them.

The Pass-Fail grade: Fail.

“It’s been lot of emotions this year, for sure,” Rodgers said.

He politely said this was not the time or the place to elaborate on it.

“But at some point, I’ll give you a better answer,” Rodgers added.

Yards per attempt: 4.3. Longest completion: 15 yards to Breece Hall. Longest completion to Adams: 14 yards. Longest completion to Garrett Wilson: 12 yards.

“You’re not gonna beat anybody scoring six points,” Rodgers said.

Once upon a time, he could score six points in his sleep. Or in his cheesehead.

Adams once said that Rodgers had the Michael Jordan Effect in Green Bay.

“If Michael Jordan was on this team, he wouldn’t be happy,” Adams said.

Rodgers bemoaned not targeting TE Tyler Conklin during the goal-line follies that could have made it a game. Adams bemoaned not catching one of the two passes to him that may or may not have been tipped.

Visions of Super grandeur were an illusion and a delusion.

The 3-7 Jets are still mathematically alive.

But not mentally, emotionally or spiritually.

Dead Team Walking — limping, crawling — towards a 14th consecutive season without a playoff berth.

A 40-year-old quarterback no longer the Same Old Rodgers and a season left stranded in the desert.

What went wrong? “Situational football. Third down. Red zone,” Rodgers said.

The Cardinals were the more desperate team. That is disgraceful. The Cardinals wanted it more. That is shameful. The Cardinals were the more physical team. The Jets were the softer team.

This so-called Dream Team is officially a nightmare to all Jets fans.

There was no oasis in the desert for Rodgers, no fountain of youth for him to look and feel Forever Young.

He has lifted teams in their most desperate hour, but not this one, not here, not now.

Rodgers’ 40-year-old body had been energized by the 10-day rest, and there was optimism among the Jets that he could begin to lead them on a long-shot playoff run.

The offensive line had returned intact.

Adams (zero first-half catches, 6-31) and Garrett Wilson (5-41) were again primed to catch fire.

Same Older Rodgers, quarterback of Dead Team Walking.

Kyler Murray (22-24, 266 yards. 1 TD, 3-21-2 TDs rushing) toyed with the Jets defense, appropriately known as Gang Green, which was undisciplined and too often incapable of professional tackling. Murray threw for 199 yards in the first half. Rodgers, attempting to establish the running game, threw for 40 yards.

The Jets showed no fight even after Quincy Williams sent Murray’s helmet flying with a violent sack midway through the second quarter.

Here’s how the Jets defense responded: Murray, third-and-10, hit TE Trey McBride for 13 yards, and Murray found Marvin Harrison Jr. against D.J. Reed with the 9-yard TD and it was 21-6.

There had already been a Reed pass interference in the end zone to set up Murray’s 1-yard TD jog around left end, Sauce Gardner getting shrugged off on a 17-yard gain on third-and-7 by McBride, a missed tackle by Jalen Mills on a 44-yard reception by James Conner.

So the Jets needed Rodgers to fight fire with fire and go toe-to-toe with Murray.

“31-6 is unacceptable,” Wilson said. “We have a team that can go out and play with anybody, but we just continue to not do it when it matters.”

Rodgers came here to change all that. Same Old Jets. Same Older Rodgers, quarterback of Dead Team Walking.