Suddenly, the Future was Now for the Jets late in the first half, Todd Bowles trusting Sam Darnold the way Weeb Ewbank trusted Joe Namath once upon a time.
This was a development you had no right to expect to happen until next season, when young Darnold had taken his lumps as a rookie and endured his most character-building growing pains, whether Bowles was still his head coach or not.
Maybe it was Darnold wearing the white shoes that Joe Willie White Shoes made famous that inspired Bowles, often to the right of Rush Limbaugh with game strategy, to make the decision to hitch his wagon to the rookie quarterback here and now.