THE JETS ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE A FOOTBALL TEAM… SOMEBODY CHECK THE TEMPERATURE!

For years, being a Jets fan has felt like signing up for an emotional subscription service you never remember purchasing.

But Sunday?

THE JETS ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING!

And before everybody starts planning the Super Bowl parade down Broadway, let's calm down. It was Week 1.

But damn it… LET US HAVE THIS ONE!

Aaron Glenn opened his second season as Jets head coach with a revamped roster, a revamped coaching staff and, most importantly, a defense that apparently woke up Sunday morning and decided the Tennessee Titans were not allowed to enjoy themselves.

The Jets came out aggressive on defense, controlled the clock on offense and walked away with a 23-10 victory over Tennessee.

And the best part?

THE JETS DIDN'T SPEND THE AFTERNOON TRYING TO FIND CREATIVE WAYS TO LOSE THE GAME.

That's progress, folks.

GENO IS BACK

Geno Smith made his return to the Jets starting quarterback position for the first time in 3,612 days.

That's not a typo.

3,612 DAYS!

Geno was probably looking around the stadium thinking, “Wait… I'm actually back here?”

And unlike some of his previous Jets experiences, this time the offense actually gave him something to work with.

Geno finished the afternoon 19-of-24 for 215 yards, spreading the football around to eight different targets.

That's called sharing.

Apparently Geno came back to New York and decided, “Nobody's going to accuse me of holding onto the football today.”

Offensive coordinator Frank Reich called the game from the booth, and the Jets opened with an eight-play, 55-yard drive that ended with tight end Kenyon Sadiq scoring the first touchdown of his NFL career.

Yes, Jets fans.

AN OPENING-DRIVE TOUCHDOWN!

You know how rare that is around here?

The Jets have now scored seven oening-drive touchdowns since 1993.

SEVEN.

That's fewer opening-drive touchdowns than some Jets fans have emotional breakdowns before halftime.

Sadiq's three-yard end-around touchdown gave the Jets an early 7-0 lead and had the fan base thinking:

“WAIT… ARE WE ALLOWED TO DO THAT?”

THE DEFENSE CAME OUT ANGRY

Meanwhile, the Jets defense came out looking like it had a personal problem with Tennessee.

The Titans managed only 23 passing yards in the first quarter, and the Jets kept Cam Ward under constant pressure.

Three sacks.

Seven Titans punts.

At one point, Tennessee's offense probably wanted to call an Uber.

Ward was able to hurt the Jets with his legs, scrambling for two first downs on the opening drive, but outside of that, the Jets defense made life miserable.

And then there was the fourth quarter.

Because apparently the Jets defense decided to give everybody a tiny bit of anxiety before allowing Tennessee to score late.

Because we're still the Jets.

We can't make this TOO comfortable.

Brandon Stephens summed it up perfectly, saying the team was clicking on all cylinders: offense, defense and special teams.

And honestly?

For Jets fans, hearing “all three phases are working” sounds like somebody just told us we won the lottery.

WAIT… THE JETS HAVE EXPLOSIVE PLAYS NOW?

The Jets also got something from the offense that has felt almost mythical around here:

Big plays.

Geno hit Garrett Wilson for 31 yards down the right sideline.

Then Adonai Mitchell decided he wasn't finished.

Two plays later, Mitchell hauled in a deep ball for 40 yards, putting the Jets inside the Tennessee 15.

That's the kind of offense Jets fans have been waiting to see.

Not three-yard passes followed by a punt.

Not “maybe we can get into field-goal range.”

Actual.

EXPLOSIVE.

PLAYS.

And then Breece Hall showed up.

Hall and Braelon Allen split the running-back workload, and Hall eventually punched in a four-yard touchdown run after those big offensive plays.

Hall finished with 102 total yards, moving him into 10th place on the Jets' all-time rushing list with 3,500 career rushing yards.

And Hall gave credit to the offensive line.

Which is probably the nicest thing anybody has said about an offensive line in New York in a long time.

The Jets leaned heavily on the running game, and it worked.

They also controlled the clock like they had somewhere to be.

Tennessee had the ball for less than 22 minutes. The Jets ran 63 offensive plays compared to Tennessee's 49.

And then came the monster drive.

Nearly 12 minutes.

NINETEEN PLAYS.

That's not a drive.

THAT'S A HOSTAGE SITUATION.

The Jets kept the Titans offense sitting on the sideline while they slowly drained the life out of the clock.

SPECIAL TEAMS ACTUALLY HELPED TOO

Jason Sanders nailed a 51-yard field goal and then connected from 52 yards in the fourth quarter.

That made him just the fourth Jets kicker to hit two or more 50-plus-yard field goals in a game.

He did miss from 54 earlier.

But hey…

WE'RE NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THAT.

Jets fans have learned to celebrate the good things before the universe notices.

The defense also created an extra possession when Marcelino McCrary-Ball forced a kickoff fumble and Qwan'tez Stiggers recovered it.

That's the kind of football Aaron Glenn wants.

Physical.

Aggressive.

Fast.

And most importantly…

NOT BORING.

OF COURSE, THERE WAS STILL SOME JETS NONSENSE

Because this is the Jets, there had to be something.

The Jets committed eight penalties, and one of the biggest came when a holding call on Josh Myers erased what would have been a rushing touchdown from Braelon Allen on fourth down.

Because apparently the Jets weren't interested in giving their fans a completely stress-free afternoon.

Thankfully, Sanders came through with the 51-yarder.

The Jets also had three players leave with injuries in the first half: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Omar Cooper Jr. and Jarvis Brownlee Jr., although Brownlee eventually returned.

So there are still things to clean up.

Aaron Glenn knows it.

The Jets know it.

And every Jets fan knows it.

But after everything this franchise has put us through, there's something refreshing about watching a Jets team come out and actually look prepared.

Aggressive defense.

A physical running game.

Explosive passes.

Clock control.

Special teams making plays.

Geno Smith throwing the football efficiently.

And an opening-drive touchdown?

WHAT IN THE NAME OF JOE NAMATH IS GOING ON HERE?

IT'S ONLY WEEK 1… BUT WE'LL TAKE IT

Again, it's only Week 1.

Nobody is hanging the AFC Championship banner yet.

Nobody is booking hotel rooms in New Orleans.

And Jets fans probably shouldn't start measuring their Super Bowl rings just yet.

But Aaron Glenn wanted his team to play with an identity.

On Sunday, we finally got a glimpse of it.

The Jets weren't perfect.

They didn't need to be.

They just needed to look like a team that knew what it was doing.

And for one beautiful Sunday afternoon…

THE JETS LOOKED LIKE A FOOTBALL TEAM.

Jets fans, enjoy it.

Because if you've been following this franchise long enough, you know happiness comes with an expiration date.

BUT TODAY?

WE'RE NOT CHECKING THE EXPIRATION DATE.

LET'S GO JETS!