Cal in the NFL: Week 6

Well, They Played

These guys will show up on the stat sheet but may have not had the greatest of contributions in their respective games.

• Tyson Alualu continues to play sparingly for the Pittsburgh Steelers, either completely missing the stat sheet altogether or making a relatively small impact. This was one of the latter weeks, as Alualu made a single tackle in a 28-21 win over the Bengals.
• Coming off a bye week, Bryan Anger had not only one of his least busy games of the season, but also one of his least effective. He punted the ball twice, the first one being a 37 yard punt that pinned the Falcons inside their own 20 yardline, and the second one being a 44 yard punt that was returned for 14. Anger’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended up losing the game to the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34-29.

DEFENSE!

Two solid performances.

• Brandon Mebane continued what has been a very good year so far by picking up four tackles in a 38-14 win over the Cleveland Browns.
• Hardy Nickerson had four tackles as well, but he and the Cincinnati Bengals were on the losing side of the 28-21 game against the Steelers.

The Offensive Line

Our offensive linemen continue to block for two of the top offensive teams in the league.

• Alex Mack and the Atlanta Falcons were able to pick up a 34-29 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game in which the Falcons accumulated 416 yards of total offense.
• The Kansas City Chiefs offense kept on humming in a 43-40 shootout loss against the New England Patriots. Despite the loss, it definitely made me smile when the announcers declared Mitchell Schwartz as the best and most impactful member of the Chiefs offensive line. Schwartz was a borderline “star of the week” but I didn’t want Alex Mack to be lonely. Fight me.

Solid Offensive Performances

All I can say is “meh.”

• Marshawn Lynch and the Oakland Raiders lost big to the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 27-3 in a game where Lynch struggled to get pretty much anything going on the ground. He finished with 13 carries for a total of 45 yards.
• The struggles continue for Keenan Allen as he caught four of six targets for 62 yards despite the Chargers offense scoring 38 points in the aforementioned win over the Browns. The worst part was Allen fumbled twice during the game, but was lucky in the fact that the Chargers were able to recover both of them.
• Despite not scoring, the ever-explosive DeSean Jackson made his mark by catching 4 of 9 targets for 77 receiving yards in what continues to be a great year for the veteran receiver as the primary deep threat for a surprisingly good Buccaneers offense. The Bucs did end up suffering a close 34-29 loss, however.
• Jared Goff took a back seat to the Todd Gurley show in 23-20 Rams win over the Broncos. Gurley actually had more rushing yards than Goff had passing yards (208-201) and his two touchdowns stole the red zone work so that Goff had none. Goff also threw an interception and completed just 50% of his passes in a game where the Rams simply did not need him to do all that much.

Defensive Player of the Week

• Lorenzo Alexander, LB, Buffalo Bills

I felt that there were only two true stars from this week, and with one of them on each side of the ball, I figured that for the first time we separate the Player of the Week award into two parts. Lorenzo Alexander has a great day for the Bills on Sunday, recording only four tackles, but adding 1.5 sacks and an interception to top off a well rounded day. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Bills fell to the Houston Texans by a score of 20-13, but Alexander and the Bills defense can definitely say that they did their part.

Player of the Week

• Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers

It seems as if every time one of our beloved quarterbacks plays in a Prime Time game, something special happens, and Monday’s 49ers vs. Packers game was no exception. Rodgers played pretty decent throughout the early stages of the game, and the Packers found themselves down at halftime for reasons that can be more accurately blamed on the Packers defense than the offense. When the Packers defense continued to struggle in the second half, Rodgers decided to completely put the team on his back and carry them to victory.

Rodgers orchestrated a game-tying touchdown drive that ended with just under two minutes left on the clock. With three timeouts, the 49ers took over with good field position after a great return and an unnecessary roughness penalty. Then, CJ Beathard threw a completely unnecessary interception on 3rd and 3 that gave the Packers the ball deep in their own territory with no timeouts and 1:17 left on the clock.

After a 14 yard Ty Montgomery run that ended with him going out of bounds to stop the clock, the 49ers forced a third down. Rodgers was sacked on the play, but a penalty on Richard Sherman gave the Packers a free first down with 43 seconds left. Rodgers proceeded to put on a display that wowed all of America, even with what we expect from Rodgers. With no timeouts, Rodgers scrambled for a 21 yard gain when the 49ers had the Packers receivers blanketed. The Packers hurried it up and clocked it with 20 seconds left. Rodgers then threw perfectly placed sideline passes of 8, 21, and 19 yards that got the Packers inside the 10 yard line with 10 seconds left. He threw the ball away on the next down to waste time, and Mason Crosby then hit a game-winning 27 yard field goal to give the Packers the 33-30 win.

That final drive was a truly remarkable feat, even for someone as acclaimed as Rodgers. People may argue that the clutch gene isn’t real, but Rodgers proves time and time again that when the game is on the line, he cannot be stopped. Rodgers finished the day with 425 passing yards, completing 25 of 46 attempts and throwing for two touchdowns. The stats are great, but the final two touchdown drives are beyond stats and once again have proven why Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in the NFL.

Week 5 In Recap

• It was a pretty average week for the NFL Bears, as they accumulated a 6-6 record on the week.
• However, they were able to outscore their opponents just enough to give us a 27-26 Pythagorean win.

Season Record: 50–34–2

Pythagorean Win-Loss: 4–2

Weekly W/L Record: 4-0-2

Note: this hasn’t been here before but it just takes the weekly win-loss record and gives us a win, loss, or tie based on it. I figured it made sense to add it.

Bears Record: I think it’s like 5-1 or something

GO BEARS!