There it was, in the first quarter of a cold, sparsely attended late-season game at MetLife Stadium on Sunday: a vision of what the Jets’ season should look like.

Aaron Rodgers and friends gained possession of the ball at the 1-yard line after a Rams punt and ran 14 plays in 8:22 to score when Rodgers davanted Adams in the back of the end zone for a leaping 11-yarder -Touchdown grab found.

But it was more than just a 99-yard drive. The way the old quarterback distributed the ball across his receiver/tight end depth chart was a wonderful thing – including a fourth-and-3 conversion to Adams.

On the touchdown – the 499th of Rogers’ NFL career – he began with a brilliant play-fake, rolling to his right and throwing the ball where only Adams could catch it – the latest example of the chemistry between the old friends.

At that point, Rodgers was 7 of 8 for 79 yards, with a passer rating of 147.4.

Then the ghost of 2024 that could have been met the reality of what it is, and soon the Jets were seeing a 19-9 loss on the scoreboard, a 4-11 record overall and a more uncertain future than ever before.

They failed three times on fourth down – once at their own 33-yard line – which led to points for the Rams. A devastating fumble by Rodgers resulted in another LA score.

Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said multiple times that he wanted to be “aggressive,” but the Jets apparently weren’t good enough to translate that philosophy into results.

The whole thing was. . . strange. The Jets offense did have a few moments after the first drive, but none that included a return to the end zone.

Rodgers said that after that opening drive, “the rhythm was gone.”

For a while, the idea that Rodgers would return in 2025 seemed more plausible than ever, as he was on a hot streak in recent weeks that lasted until Sunday. But now we’re wondering again what exactly the point of it is.

Rodgers was ailing early in the season – and landed in the injury tent on Sunday before returning to the game – but he has managed to stay on the field.

If the Jets can go 4-11 with Rodgers, Adams, Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, then exactly what’s the point of trying to get this thing going again under the next coach and general manager?

When Rodgers was asked about the players’ motivation for the last two games against the Bills and Dolphins, he raised an oddity in his post-game comments.

“You have to figure out what it means to be a professional,” he said. “This is an important part of building a culture. In the last two weeks we’ve really been able to see who’s on board and who’s ready to get out.”

Rodgers said he could tell a lot from his teammates’ practice and preparation habits, pointing out some of those were missing. He didn’t name any names, but the fact that he had publicly taken this route at this point was interesting.

Ulbrich seemed to disagree with Rodgers’ assessment, as he praised the effort of “every single guy in this locker room.”

Whatever. This whole thing has become tiresome and in some ways even more frustrating than what’s happening with the Jets’ MetLife neighbors down the hall.

The Giants are just a non-competitive shell of an NFL team. The Jets still have plenty of talent and are showing flashes of competence.

It rarely leads to victories. That’s the sign of a bad team.

When Adams was asked if the cold weather had affected the game, he replied that it had not, then added: “It looked like a normal game. It looked a little too normal for what we caught on tape this year. It kind of fit in.”

Toward the end of the game, the stadium was largely empty, as was the atmosphere on the Jets sideline. Everyone had to wonder what the hell happened.

At the end of the first quarter, the Jets looked like a team that just took too long to get its act together this season but could potentially have a future together.

At the end of the quarterfinals, they looked like their record says they did: one of the most disappointing teams in New York sports history.