ARLINGTON, Texas — He wasn’t a disaster, until the fourth quarter at least, when the game was long gone. Zach Wilson did not show up as the proverbial deer in headlights. And that’s the low bar for him — he wasn’t a disaster, until the fourth quarter at least.

It is a good bet that Aaron Rodgers would not have had any Hall of Fame day against these Cowboys.

But we were reminded once again that the Zach Wilson Jets have no margin for error. And even on a day when Wilson does not make an error until the game is already lost in the fourth quarter, when he threw three balls to the guys in the other jerseys, they won’t have much of a chance against too many teams on their schedule if they do not play The Perfect Game.

In other words, with Rodgers gone, here was the sobering evidence that The Future Is No Longer Now for the 2023 Jets.

Zach to the Past for the Jets.

“I thought I was seeing it well for the first three quarters,” Wilson said.

Ahem, 45 minutes of seeing it well produced 10 points.

The Cowboys wisely dared Wilson to beat them. Fat chance.

Wilson had 116 passing yards early in the fourth quarter, and 68 of them had come on a touchdown throw to Garrett Wilson that featured 55 yards of YAC (Yards After Catch).

This was the Cowboys’ home opener, and if Russell Crowe in the Colosseum thought it was him against the world, imagine how Zach Wilson felt with 100,000 screaming fans in his ear.

Wilson did show up with more confidence and better pocket presence and command than he did his first two seasons, which isn’t saying much. But he is not nearly gladiator enough to prevail over this kind of doomsday defense.

This was never really a fair fight, and no one should have expected it to be.

Rodgers, at age 40, returning for any first playoff berth in 13 years is a pipe dream, so perhaps Wilson ought to listen to the sound of dolphins mating if that would help him as much as it apparently helps his fallen mentor.

Wilson, the 30-10 loser, needed a running game, favorable field position from punt returner Xavier Gipson and special teams, and a defense that kept Dak Prescott in check and kept it close enough for a miracle in the fourth quarter.

He must have felt sandbagged by them on Wilson Island.

And they by him.

No running game — he was their leading rusher (5-36) — no special teams help aside from an early fake punt, no defense that imposed its will the way it promised it would and was stunningly undisciplined.

At one point, Prescott was 13 of 13 for 113 yards. Wilson was 1 of 2 for 9 yards.

This is akin to Wilson (12-27, 170 yards, 1 TD, 3 INTs) bringing a water pistol to the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

The offense couldn’t stay on the field (1-for-10 on third down, 17:45) and the defense (9-for-18 on third down, 42:15) couldn’t get off it.

“We can’t go three-and-out, we gotta give them a break, and we gotta sustain drives,” Wilson said.

Down 27-10 in the fourth quarter, he rolled right looking for Garrett Wilson and found Jayron Kearse instead. Then the floodgates opened.

“I gotta be smart with the ball,” Zach Wilson said.

Robert Saleh, with the glass half-full: “Up until we had to force it, I thought he did a really nice job. When you have to get into a drop-back game with those guys, it’s not gonna be pretty.”

With monster Micah Parsons (2 sacks, 1 forced fumble) bearing down on him, given that extra second by Trevon Diggs and Stephon Gilmore in the secondary, the prospects for some electric Zach Wilson-to-Garrett Wilson light show were dim.

But at least dim and not none.

Against what must have seemed like the entire state packed in the box, Zach Wilson and OC Nathaniel Hackett finally remembered that there is a budding superstar receiver on their team.

Wilson found Wilson at the 45 and the wideout was off to the races for a 68-yard TD for Cowboys 10, Jets 7.

“That was a good play call by Hackett,” Zach Wilson said.

Here the Jets’ defense had its chance to show why it believes it can be the No. 1 defense.

Prescott and CeeDee Lamb (11-143) and the Cowboys made a mockery of the thought.

Sauce Gardner dropped a pick-six near the Dallas sideline, John Franklin-Myers was flagged for roughing the passer on a failed third down, Brandin Echols was guilty of pass interference on third down and Prescott’s 1-yard TD pass, and Tony Pollard’s two-point conversion made it Cowboys 18, Jets 7.

A pair of Zach Wilson keepers marched the Jets into field-goal range just before the half, but his arm had been hit on third down with Garrett Wilson wide open in the end zone.

“I was so frustrated. … Garrett was my safe throwaway, and I think at the top of my drop he was open,” Zach Wilson said, “and I was gonna rip it to him in the front pylon, and somebody got a piece of the ball.”

When the Cowboys stretched their lead to 24-10 in the third quarter, no one had any right to expect Wilson to climb Mount Micah.

“We gotta be better, I need to be better,” Zach Wilson said, “but we were right there. … It’s a long season. … Everyone trusts and believes in each other. We all love each other, so we’re excited for the challenge.”

Robert Saleh’s eagle cannot soar with a pack of crows attacking Zach Wilson at every turn.

Flight 23 has been diverted.