Jeff Ulbrich desperately needed help.

The Bills had done it to the Jets, running them into the ground while Josh Allen appeared to be playing with Ulbrich’s defense, and thought they would carry a 20-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

They thought wrong.

Rodgers, who was first and tenth on his 48th, started the Hail Ulbrich from his 43rd. Time expired while the ball was in the air.

Allen Lazard jumped for the ball and the three Bills surrounding him jumped with him.

Lazard noticed.

It was Rodgers’ fourth Hail Mary TD. No other player in the NFL has scored more than two touchdowns on a Hail Mary since 2008.

It made Ulbrich, a 23-20 loser, look like a genius for calling two timeouts while a trash-talking Allen engineered a drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Knox with 21 seconds left Pause.

Unfortunately, it will take more than Aaron Rodgers completing a Hail Ulbrich to beat Josh Allen.

You can blame Rodgers for not getting his team into the end zone on first-and-scoring at the 3-yard line, and you can blame him for not winning the game when Ulbrich needed him to win in the fourth quarter .

Rodgers threw for a season-high 294 yards. This isn’t on him.

The real blame lies with Ulbrich’s prized defensive lineman and field kicker Greg Zuerlein, who sabotaged the Jets and denied them a share of first place.

And 11 penalties that had Jets fans muttering to themselves:

The same old Saleh jets.

And Aaron Rodgers is not Josh Allen and the Jets are not the Bills.

Ulbrich would be forced to ask Rodgers for one final favor starting at his 30 as he trailed 23-20 with 3:43 and three timeouts remaining.

He attempted what amounted to a third-and-16 Hail Ulbrich, and Mike Williams slipped and Taron Johnson intercepted with 1:52 left.

Rodgers was brought here to beat Josh Allen and the Bills on a Monday night at MetLife Stadium with a share of first place on the line no matter who, Robert Saleh or Jeff Ulbrich, as his head coach stood on the sideline. He was brought here to end the Bills’ four-year stranglehold over the AFC East, whether Nathaniel Hackett or Todd Downing was the playmaker.

Ulbrich’s defense and the MetLife crowd were energized early in the second half.

It was a heated game between the rivals from the start.

Zuerlein missed a 43-yarder at the left post. His second miss came in the second half at the left post.

A roughing penalty on AJ Espenesa on third-and-2 allowed Breece Hall to fire an explosive 42-yard shot down the left sideline to the Buffalo 3 midway through the third quarter.

MetLife Stadium: “BREEEEEECE.”

But Rodgers couldn’t make it. Ulbrich chose the Chippie FG. Jets 20, Bills 20.

It was still Jets 20, Bills 20 because a call by Tyron Smith negated a 4-yard TD run by Braelon Allen before Taylor Rapp forced a potential 12-yard TD pass to Garrett Wilson and Zuerlein one 32-yard FG missed.

Ulbrich’s defense had planned chaos for this case. At the beginning it seemed as if they were still in shock from the dismissal of Robert Saleh. There was a 42-yard PI to Quincy Williams and a 23-yard PI to DJ Reed. A 12-man-on-field penalty was called because the Bills accepted a PI against Tony Adams before Allen found Dawson Knox for a 12-yard TD pass.

The offensive line slumped toward the end of the second quarter. Dorian Williams sacked Rodgers on first down, Morgan Moses had a false start and Epenesa tackled Tyron Smith and buried Rodgers for an 8-yard sack. A hold call against Smith negated a 4-yard TD run by Allen late in the third quarter.

The new playmaker Downing used Hall cleverly in the passing game. The disappearance of Breece the Beast had opened my eyes. Hall had to regain his swagger to keep Rodgers from attempting 54 passes and taking a beating. And so: A 21-yard reception. A 24-yard gain. Later a 23-yard reception. And that 42-yard romp.