Cal in the NFL: Week 10

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.

• CJ Anderson and the Carolina Panthers got absolutely crushed by the Pittsburgh Steelers by a score of 52-21 this past Sunday. This produced a game script that certainly didn’t help Anderson, the second string running back for the Panthers, and it showed this week as he was only given two carries for which he took for a combined -1 yards. Ouch.
• Tyson Alualu, on the other hand, found himself on the winning side of the Steelers-Panthers blowout, yet he also did not play much of a role at all, only making a single tackle.
• It baffles me how an NFL team can score just three points with only one punt, but that is exactly what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did in a 16-3 to the Washington Redskins. They controlled the ball at the end of both halves of the game, turned it over three times, and missed two field goals in an ugly game that we only care about because of Bryan Anger, so that kinda sucks. His one punt went for a 44-yard touchback.
• Our other special teamer, Georgio Tavecchio, found himself in a similarly unfortunate game. The Atlanta Falcons struggled to move the ball against the Cleveland Browns in a 28-16 loss. The Falcons really only had offensive success in their two touchdown drives, and they went for two on one of them. Alas, Tavecchio remains perfect on the season, converting on both his only PAT and his only field goal try from 40 yards out.
• The Saints picked up a blowout 51-14 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, and in such a dominant all-around performance, star defensive lineman Cameron Jordan wasn’t needed to do much. Jordan made a single tackle in the win as his Saints improved to 8-1 on the season.
• Lorenzo Alexander and the Buffalo Bills were able to pick up a huge win over the New York Jets by a score of 41-10, but Alexander only had two tackles on the game.

The Offensive Line

The weekly report on our two favorite NFL offensive linemen.

• As mentioned earlier, the Atlanta Falcons didn’t have the best week on offense, losing 28-16 to the Cleveland Browns. Alex Mack and the offensive line weren’t awful but definitely did not perform like the solid unit they usually are, allowing two sacks and producing only 3.7 yards/carry.
• Despite picking up another win, it certainly wasn’t the best week for Mitchell Schwartz and the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line as the Chiefs offense produced an uncharacteristically low 330 total yards and allowed five sacks. Luckily, the Chiefs didn’t need much more than that to beat a struggling Arizona Cardinals team and improve to 9-1 on the season. The Chiefs offense will look to bounce back in a Monday Night showdown against Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams that many people are dubbing as the “game of the year”.

Solid Performances

Some solid, albeit unspectacular, performances from our former Bears.

• Keenan Allen was finally able to return to the endzone in a 20-6 win over the Oakland Raiders. Allen finished the day with six catches on nine targets for 57 yards and the aforementioned touchdown.
• On the other side of the ball in the same game, Brandon Mebane continued a great season with three tackles in a dominant defensive performance by the Los Angeles Chargers.
• While he didn’t top 100 yards again, Maurice Harris proved that he has become a true focal point in the Washington Redskins offense by catching all five of his targets for 52 yards. He also had one rush for four yards, which shows the Redskins really are trying to get the ball in his hands as much as possible. The Redskins picked up the win by a score of 16-3 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Maurice Harris’ involvement in the Redskins offense should be an interesting theme moving forward.
• On the losing side of the Redskins-Buccaneers game was DeSean Jackson. Jackson still hasn’t had his breakout week with Ryan Fitzpatrick back at the helm of the Bucs offense, but he nonetheless had a solid five catches on eight targets for 67 yards. The Bucs face the Giants in Week 11, which should be a much easier match-up for the Bucs offense.
• Another player we are waiting for a breakout from is Marvin Jones Jr. Jones has yet to reap the benefits from the Golden Tate trade, but he still had a decent performance in a 34-22 loss to the Chicago Bears, catching three of seven targets for 55 yards. Jones is questionable for his Week 11 match-up against the Carolina Panthers after suffering a bone bruise in his right knee in the game against the Bears that caused him to sit out the game’s final quarter. We hope he is okay, and if he does manage to play on Sunday, he could be in for a big game in a possible shootout against the Carolina Panthers.
• Aaron Rodgers wasn’t asked to do much in a blowout 31-12 win over the Miami Dolphins, but still had a solid game, completing 19/28 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

Player of the Week

• Jared Goff, QB, Los Angeles Rams

Jared Goff was able to have another great game in another Rams win in order to grab himself another Player of the Week. Another, another, another... it is getting almost boring with how good Goff has been this year.

Notice I said almost, as I still am definitely having a blast watching this young man blossom into the player we all knew he could be, and I am sure all of you Cal fans feel the same way.

Goff completed 28/39 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in a 36-31 win over the Seattle Seahawks, as the Rams improved to 9-1 on the season.

The Rams offense did suffer a huge loss in the game, as star wide receiver Cooper Kupp suffered a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the season. However, the Rams have a deep arsenal of weapons and should be able to manage without him, but it is still obviously an awful injury for the young, talented reciever.

Goff and the Rams turn their attention to a Monday Night match-up with the Kansas City Chiefs that should be a very entertaining, high scoring game. I encourage you all to watch this game, as it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Rams pick up a huge win and Goff finds himself on this list for the third straight week.

Week 10 In Recap

• While there weren’t many great individual performances this week, our Cal players kept on winning, going 9-6 as a whole.
• The average scores of those games favored us as well, giving us a 25-20 win.

Season Record: 85–54–2

Weekly W/L Record: 7-0-3

Pythagorean Win-Loss: 8–2

Bears Record: 6–4 (suck on that USC!!!)

GO BEARS!