Many Jets rose up to pull out their 24-17 victory over the Titans on Sunday, but try as a Green & White fan might, it all came back to No. 8.

What was it that Aaron Rodgers brought to his first "complete game" win as the Jets' 40-year-old, 20-year-veteran QB? Was it his clutch passing to lead the Jets back from the brink of another rough game? His confidence in himself? His belief in his teammates?

Rodgers said the most important thing was the postgame interview on the Nissan Stadium field.

"It feels great, it feels great," Rodgers said, savoring technically his second victory as the Jets starter to go with last year's four plays in the opener against Buffalo. "It was a long time coming. I told Evan [Washburn, CBS sideline reporter] I haven't had that long a time between having that interview on the field. It means you won, you played halfway decent."

It also means that, like the dance of the seven veils, Rodgers revealed a little more of what he and the Jets offense can do despite a whole lot of adverse circumstances. Against the Titans, after scuffling to 20 yards and no points on their first three series, Rodgers & Co. put up 246 yards and all 24 of their points in their next seven drives before letting the defense hold the Titans out of the end zone in their home opener.

The outburst had head coach Robert Saleh mentioning some magic words several times after the game.

"It's a little inconsistent right now, which is to be expected," Saleh said, "but we know every time we touch the ball, we can score."

Later the coach amplified on that point: "Our mindset that we can score every drive is eventually going to take over this team. Once it does take over, it's going to be free-flowing. It's going to look beautiful."

Rodgers, in his calming, laid-back postgame way, agreed.

"I'm always confident when we take the field that we're going to score," he said. "Now it doesn't happen every time."

But it happened absolutely when it counted when the Jets took over at their 26 with 8:41 to play in a 17-17 game. A-Rod went 5-for-5 passing on the drive for 60 yards. WR Garrett Wilson made the first of the highlight-reel grabs — in the words of play-by-play man Ian Eagle, "a la Willie Mays" — fielding a third-and-1 looper over his inside shoulder for 26 yards.

Then came the first contribution of unrestricted free agent WR Mike Williams. They've said the former Chargers downfield demon turns 50/50 balls into 80/20s in his favor, and that's just what he did on the left sideline against CB Chidobe Awuzie, high-pointing the ball on second-and-16 for 19 yards to the Titans 26.

Two plays later, rookie RB Braelon Allen, who has dubbed Rodgers "The Conductor," roared off the right side untouched for his second touchdown of the game and it was 24-17 with 4½ minutes to play.

" 'G' did some squirrelly stuff downfield, made a great adjustment," Rodgers said of Wilson's catch. "Then Mike, I gave him a chance on the ball and he came down with it. So two nice plays and then we blew the hole open on the right side."

However, no holes were showing in the offense's collective psyche because of the rough start. Midway through the second quarter, the Green & White were staring at a 146-20 yardage pit and the potential of the Titans, at the Jets 6, opening a 10-0 or 14-0 lead before their home-opener fan base.

But Titans QB Will Levis, despite showing toughness, accuracy and mobility, as a second-year vet has about one-tenth of the experience of Rodgers. He showed it on third down when Will McDonald strip-sacked him and Quincy Williams recovered, then again on his next play when his long ball was picked off by CB Brandin Echols.

And the Rodgers Peace Train started rolling as he led the Jets 73 yards to their first TD, Allen's touchdown catch, then 70 yards to open the second half, with the coup de grace Breece Hall's split-wide 26-yard end zone grab against the single coverage of LB Kenneth Murray. Just like that, the Jets led 14-10 and had regained their equilibrium.

As Rodgers noted, that doesn't always happen in the NFL.

"A lot of times, people freak out. You've got to be the calming force in there," he said. "But I feel like all game, we were frustrated at times but we never got down on each other. We were supportive and positive, even though we were frustrated that we were not getting G enough balls, we didn't run that well in the first 2½ quarters. We stayed confident."

Exactly how Saleh saw things, repeating his enticing mantra from other responses in his media availability.

"I feel like we can score every time we touch the ball," he said. "We're working through things, obviously, but to have three scoring drives and also get a field goal out of it ... Aaron's presence, his ability at the line of scrimmage, his confidence in the huddle and on the sideline, he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

"He's had success in this league for a very long time, he's seen everything. To have his presence in the huddle for guys who haven't seen everything is pretty cool."

By breaking that 17-all tie, Rodgers got credit unofficially for his 32nd regular-season fourth-quarter game-winning drive. It meant a lot to him, not for his personal records but for what it can mean for his team when December and January arrive.

"These are really important games late in the season when you're trying to get into the playoffs," he said. "You're looking back on a hot day, a short week, a very good defense, we started off really slow. Finding a way to win, that's what really good teams do."