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Will the Real New York Jets please stand up after their second-half outburst against the Texans?

If ever there was a game made up of two halves, it was the Jets' 21-13 victory over Houston at MetLife Stadium.

In the first 30 minutes, the Jets' offense was, well, offensive. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was 7 of 14 for 32 yards. The Jets had less than 70 yards of offense, less than 10 minutes of possession and five first downs. On their best drive, they fumbled a ball out of the Houston end zone for a touchback.

It's the dumbest rule in the NFL. But that's a conversation for another day.

Everything that went wrong with New York's 2-6 start was clear to see. Jets have to jet. The team was lucky and only had to trail 0:7.

In the second half, a completely different team took the field – especially on offense.

Rodgers followed that dismal first half with a precise second that included three touchdown passes — two to Garrett Wilson and one to Davante Adams. The team's star wideouts combined for 16 catches, 181 yards and those three scores.

One of Wilson's guys was the guy you'll be seeing a lot of in the days and weeks to come.

Running back Breece Hall totaled 80 yards. The defense stiffened and allowed only two field goals after halftime.

It was a truly Halloween-esque depiction of Jekyll and Hyde football.

If the Jets play like they did after halftime, New York will look like the team fans were excited about before the season. Yes, the Texans have been hit hard by injuries. But they were still a first place team with two losses.

If the Jets could actually put together a few 60-minute attempts like they did in the second half, they could potentially get their flagging 2024 season back on track.

But after nine games, it's optimistic, almost delusional, to expect that to happen.

CJ Stroud's implosion in Week 9 shows he can't handle the Texans' offense

The Houston Texans are plagued by injuries. Wide receiver Nico Collins is on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Fellow wideout Stefon Diggs is out for the year after tearing his ACL last week. No. 1 linebacker Azeez Al-Shair has missed several games with a knee injury.

All the injuries have put more pressure on second-year quarterback CJ Stroud to lead the team — at least for a while. Last week, Houston was able to sneak past the Indianapolis Colts.

But on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium, Stroud relented.

His passing numbers against the Jets were…not good. Just 11 completions in 30 attempts for 191 yards. 126 of those yards went to wide receiver Tank Dell, who is literally the last man standing at his position.

Against the Jets, Stroud looked less like the star many expect him to be and more like a second-year player who doesn't know what to do. There were misthrows. Forced. Stroud held the ball far too long, far too often – the Texans allowed a whopping eight sacks, including a strip-sack turnover deep in Jets territory.

Houston has to learn to live without Diggs. At best, Collins will be back next week. But if he's not ready to go, the Texans have no chance against the surging Detroit Lions with the game plan we saw on Thursday.

Until they get to the wideout, the Texans will have to rely on running back Joe Mixon, who had another 100-yard game with a touchdown. Call things back. Grind wins.

Because in Week 9 it became painfully clear that Stroud, despite his talent, couldn't sustain the offense. Not yet.