Cal Sports Report

Aaron Rodgers: Horrible First Half; Great Second Half

Maybe cayenne pepper made the difference in the Jets' comeback win over the Texans

Jake Curtis

Former Cal star and current Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers
Former Cal star and current Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers / Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
In this story:

Former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers had perhaps the worst first half of his long NFL career on Thursday. He looked slow, he looked old, he looked washed up.

In the first 30 minutes, the 40-year-old Rodgers had 32 yards passing, his fewest passing yards in the first half in any game of his career in which he attempted at least 10 passes. He had no touchdown passes, and a passer rating of 56.2, which, if you are unfamiliar with passer rating numbers, is bad, real bad.

“I was about as bad as I could be in the first half,” Rodgers said after the Jets’ 21-13 victory over Houston.

To which he added later in his postgame interview, “I was so bad in the first half.”

And then he concluded with this: “I was about as bad as I can play in the first half.”

The Jets got shut out in the first half, trailing 7-0 at intermission, and nothing hinted that things would be different in the second half.

But things were different, very different. 

Rodgers completed 15 of 18 passes in the second half for 179 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.  That added up to a passer rating of 147.69 in the second half, and for those of you unfamiliar with passer-rating numbers, that’s good, very good.

Suddenly Rodgers looked like a four-time MVP again.

Aided by a spectacular touchdown reception by Garrett Wilcon – “That was ridiculous,” Rodgers said – and Rodgers’ first touchdown pass to Davante Adams since 2021, the Jets ended a five-game losing streak and improved to 3-6.

So did cayenne pepper have anything to do with the Jets’ second-half rally?

On Tuesday Rodgers said he is drinking cayenne pepper and water, suggested to him by teammate Thomas Morstead, and Rodgers said it has provided a “fountain of youth.”

As Jets fans behind Rodgers during his postgame TV interview were chanting, “Cay-enne pepper, cay-enne pepper,” Rodgers was asked about the influence of his new cayenne pepper regimen.

“I’ve been told not to talk about it anymore,” he said.

What bettors may be talking about was the point spread for Thursday’s game. Even though the Texans were 6-2 and the Jets were 2-6 and riding a five-game losing streak, the Jets were 2.5-point favorites at virtually every betting site.  Not only did the Jets win, but they covered the spread.

Suddenly the Jets’ season does not look so dreadful, and Rodgers’ prospects for the rest of 2024 don’t look so pessimistic.  None of the next six Jets opponents have a winning record, and Rodgers has shown before that he can lead a team into contention after slow start. In 2022, the Packers were 4-8 before winning four in a row only to lose their finale.

Hmmm.

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport

Published |Modified
Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

Home/Football