Well, it looked so damned good for nearly four quarters for the Jets.
A 2-0 start for the first time since 2015 was not only in the Jets’ sights in their home opener at MetLife Stadium in what was a “whiteout’’ with their fans clad in white, they could taste it.
Then it all went sour in the second half of the fourth quarter as the Jets squandered a 10-point lead in the final 7:58 to lose in crushing fashion, 20-17, in overtime.
The loss erased the feel-good afternoon of the 17-7 lead the Jets built halfway through the fourth quarter.
It, too, ruined the “whiteout,’’ leaving the Jets wish they had a vat of White-Out to erase the memory of this sickening loss.
The Packers (1-1) won the game on a 26-yard field goal by their rookie kicker Trey Smack with 5:23 remaining in overtime.
The Packers tied the game at 17-17 on a 34-yard field goal by Smack with 2:59 remaining in the regulation.
The score was set up by a 63-yard kickoff return by Packers receiver Skyy Moore to give Green Bay the ball at the Jets 16-yard line.
The Packers had shaved the Jets lead to 17-14 on 3-yard scoring pass from Jordan Love to Christian Watson, who beat Jarvis Brownlee Jr. on a slant in the end zone with 7:58 remaining in the game.
The Jets took a 17-7 lead on a 32-yard field goal by Jason Sanders with 11:04 remaining in the game.
That score was courtesy of a forced fumble by Jets newcomer linebacker Kingsley Enegbare, who came to them from Green Bay this offseason.
Enegbare punched the ball loose from Packers running back MarShawn Lloyd with 12:27 remaining in the game, the ball recovered by defensive tackle Harrison Phillips at the Green Bay 18-yard line.
The Enegbare turnover was the fourth forced fumble of the game by the Jets defense, but the first one they recovered.
Earlier, the Jets broke up a 7-7 game in the third quarter, taking a 14-7 lead on a 5-yard Geno Smith scoring pass to Garrett Wilson.
Wilson beat Packers cornerback Brandon Cisse at the goal line for the TD, capping a 10-play, 70-yard drive.
Sunday against the Packers was a step up in weight class for the Jets, and it looked that way through the first half.
The Jets had the Packers on the back foot early in the game, but never took advantage.
Green Bay’s day could not have started worse, with Love sacked on the first play of the game on a broken play and then Packers receiver Jayden Reed lost for the game with a scary neck injury on the second play after making a catch and getting hit by Jets linebackers Demario Davis and Enegbare.
Reed was taken off on a stretcher, his body immobilized.
On the very next play, Packers starting right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele was lost for the game with a knee injury.
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The Packers, meanwhile, were penalized six times for 75 yards in the first half alone.
Yet it was the Packers who scored the first points, taking a 7-0 lead on a 5-yard TD run by Lloyd with 9:35 remaining in the first half.
That score apparently woke up a Jets offense that had been sleepwalking on its first three possessions with the Jets tying the game at 7-7 on a 6-yard Braelon Allen scoring run just 3:31 later, with 6:04 remaining in the half.
That possession was kept alive by a 16-yard Smith completion to Garrett Wilson on third-and-11 and boosted by a 34-yard pass interference penalty on Packers cornerback Keissea Nixon, who all but tackled Jets receiver Adonai Mitchell.
The score was set up by a 14-yard Smith pass to Mitchell on third-and-9 from the Green Bay 20.
Overtime was digusting for the Jets, who had the first possession and saw Smith sacked on the first two plays, followed by a penalty.
The Packers took possession of the ball and marched down the field on the Jets defense. The most egregious moment came after a 15-yard Love completion to running back Chris Brooks when Brownlee threw Brooks to the ground out of bounds.
That gave the Packers a first down at the Jets 22-yard line, and the rest is added to the Jets’ dark history on their “whiteout’’ day.
The 2-0 Jets were trying to go 2-0 for the first time since 2015 and only the 12th time in the 66-year history of the franchise.
That’ll have to wait yet another year, like most things for this floundering franchise.
