The Jets are opening their season with a bang against the Super Bowl runner-ups, the San Francisco 49ers. The Jets’ defense ranks no.1, but can it take on the explosive Niners’ offense? Would a 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers be able to go against the likes of a young Nick Bosa, and other stalwarts like Fred Warner, and Javon Hargrave? It’s likely.

Former New York Jets Pro Bowl Linebacker Bart Scott thinks the Jets can beat the Bay Area team. At least on paper, the New York Jets are on par with the San Francisco 49ers. But will this new roster be able to upset the Niners? That was not possible with Zach Wilson at quarterback last year. However, the Jets might soar sky-high and drop a missile named A-Rod on anyone who dares to go against them.

“To me when you look at that opening matchup, these are identical teams. It’s pretty much the same thing. Quinnen Williams-Hargrave. Nick Bosa-Haason Reddick. McCaffrey-Hall,” said Scott on the New York Jets podcast. “You can see [Robert] Saleh definitely built this team in a split image of the San Francisco 49ers.”

The New York Jets players didn’t make it to the playoffs last year and Zach Wilson might have been one of the reasons behind that. Modestly speaking, he was slightly incompetent. But coming back to Scott’s comments, comparing Christian McCaffrey with Breece Hall is also a stretch. Despite the Jets losing 10 games in the last season, Hall had 994 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns to his name, compared to CMC’s superior 1,459-yards and 14 touchdowns.

However, Scott’s vision comes together when comparing Nick Bosa to Haason Reddick. The Jets DE has more experience than Bosa and had 11 sacks in the last season. Bosa, despite being a Super Bowl contender, had 10.5 sacks. Reddick boasts 29 solo tackles to Bosa’s 34. Also, the Jets DE had 1 forced fumble to Bosa’s 2.

Even Javon Hargrave and Quinnen Williams go head-to-head as far as their stats and experience as concerned. Nothing is perfect, but Robert Saleh has done a pretty great job putting this roster together. The competition is pretty tight right now! If everything goes right, the New York Jets might even give Kyle Shanahan a run for his money. Even the Jets’ new 8x Pro Bowl LT Tyron Smith thinks so.

“I just feel like they have all the pieces together right now, and they’re getting the final pieces this offseason to produce a team that can go all the way,” Smith told reporters in March this year. If you’re still not convinced that the Jets have all it takes to have a winning season this year, think again. We haven’t even touched upon the subject of the offense yet.

Aaron Rodgers’ New York Jets vs. Brock Purdy’s San Francisco 49ers

Comparing a handful of players is not enough to substantiate what that former Jets LB had to say about the New York Jets. The comparisons between red and green teams just don’t stop drawing parallels. Both teams’ skill positions can neutralize each other if play calls are right. Again, how much more similar can they be?

“We talk about great left tackle (49ers)-great left tackle (Jets). Great guard (49ers)-great guard (Jets),” said Scott. “The difference is to experience that quarterback. You talk about wide receiver position Aiyuk-Garrett?”

What’s astonishing is how Trent Williams and Tyron Smith are nearly identical to each other. Even their weight and height are the exact same. Even Mike Williams and Deebo Samuel are nearly the same as far as their body type and stats are considered. Lest we forget about Brandon Aiyuk (1,342 yards and 7 TDs) and Garrett Wilson (1,042 yards and 3 TDs). Both receivers have been putting up 1,000-yard seasons in the last 2 consecutive seasons. The reason behind Garrett Wilson’s slightly dipped numbers is Zach Wilson, who played 12 games and had a 2,271 and 7 TD season.

Garrett Wilson is so fast that even Aaron Rodgers is having problems keeping up with him. “He’s hard to throw to, honestly — he’s so damn fast,” admitted Rodgers as reported on NFL.com. “It takes some getting used to. He’s just so dynamic because he can go from zero to full speed so quickly.” Astonishingly, A-Rod and Garrett Wilson connected over a 75-yard TD pass in the training camp recently.

The only difference, as Bart Scott pointed out, is at quarterback. Discounting Rodgers’ last season with the Jets, Rodgers has 18 years of experience as a QB. He won a Super Bowl, he has 4 MVPs and countless other accolades. Purdy is lagging behind in that area. Also, the Jets are designed around Aaron Rodgers, while Brock Purdy was thrown into a system where Kyle Shanahan had set everything up for him.

For the most part, it all comes back to the quarterback position. Any difference that is to be made comes from the QBs. Purdy is good, but Rodgers has 9x more experience than the Bay area QB. The puzzle that is New York Jets was quite complicated last year. This year, though, the pieces are starting to fall into place.