Cal Football in the NFL: Rodgers Plays Comeback Kid on Monday Night

Former Cal football players had their hands all over the NFL action this week, including Aaron Rodgers’ heroics on Monday night.

With three minutes left to play on Monday, the Green Bay Packers and former Cal football quarterback Aaron Rodgers trailed the 49ers, 30-23. Just over a minute later, Rodgers was completing a 58-yard drive with his third completion of the drive. On a 16-yard scoring strike to Davante Adams, Rodgers and the Packers tied the 49ers.

On the 49ers’ next possession, Kevin King intercepted a C.J. Beathard pass at the Packers’ 10-yard line with 1:13 on the clock, giving Rodgers and crew a chance to win the game. A 21-yard scramble was Rodgers’ big play on the drive, getting the Packers into range for Mason Crosby to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.

Rodgers completed 25 of his 46 pass attempts on the night, throwing for 425 yards and a couple touchdowns as the Packers ran their record to 3-2-1. It was Rodgers’ second consecutive game going over 400 yards through the air, and the sixth such game of his storied NFL career. He also ran for 34 yards on three carries, and the key 21-yard pickup in the fourth quarter was his longest run since 2016. Rodgers has been dealing with a knee injury for most of the season, but he’s still playing at a very high level.

Despite losing to the Texans, 35-year-old linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, now in his 12th NFL season, had a great day for the Bills. The ageless Alexander had 1.5 sacks and an interception, leading the defense that allowed just 216 yards, forced three turnovers, and sacked Deshaun Watson seven times.

More from Golden Gate Sports

Alexander played his own personal tip drill early in the third quarter. At the line of scrimmage, the former Cal Bear batted a Watson pass straight up into the air and went up to pull it down, giving him just his second career interception. His 1.5 sacks on Sunday give him 27 in his long NFL tenure, and it was his first game with more than one sack since week 15 in 2016.

The Rams just keep winning. They ran their record to 6-0 with a win in Denver on Sunday, and are the last remaining undefeated team in the NFL. Quarterback Jared Goff didn’t have his best game in the victory, completing just 50% of his passes (14-of-28), and throwing for a season-low 201 yards. He was sacked five times, and didn’t have his normal pinpoint accuracy, especially on deep throws, in the thin and frigid Denver air.

Goff entered the week as the NFL’s leader in passing yardage, but dropped down to fourth with 1,928 yards on the year. He’s second in the league with 9.9 yards per pass attempt, and sixth with a 69.1% completion clip.

Around the League:

Kansas City right tackle Mitchell Schwartz earned a 76.2 grade from Pro Football Focus for his performance against the Patriots on Sunday night. Coincidentally, another former Cal lineman, Atlanta center Alex Mack, earned the exact same 76.2 grade as Schwartz in the Falcons’ win over Tampa Bay. That is considered a “high quality” grade by PFF’s standards.

Cowboys long snapper L.P. Ladouceur just keeps chugging along. The 37-year-old played in his 211th consecutive game in Dallas’ stunning blowout win against the Jaguars. He’s 13 games short of the NFL record for consecutive games by a long snapper, and has played the seventh-most games in the NFL for a former Golden Bear.

Chargers wideout Keenan Allen caught four passes for 62 yards, giving him exactly 4,444 career receiving yards. He also rushed four times for 41 yards, setting career highs in both categories.

Next. Pro Bears: Big Games from Big Arms. dark

Buccaneers receiver Desean Jackson caught four more passes for 77 yards. He leads the NFL with 23.9 yards per catch on the year, and sits just 12 yards shy of becoming the second Golden Bear to reach 10,000 career receiving yards in the NFL.

Home/Cal Bears