Cal Sports Report

Aaron Rodgers May Have Clinched His Fourth MVP With Packers' Win

Former Cal star has another strong performance as Green Bay clinches the NFC's No. 1 seed in the playoffs

Jake Curtis

Aaron Rodgers May Have Clinched His Fourth MVP With Packers' Win
Aaron Rodgers May Have Clinched His Fourth MVP With Packers' Win /

Former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers may have wrapped up his second straight MVP award and fourth overall with his performance in the Packers' 37-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings Sunday night in Green Bay.

The win clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC for Green Bay (13-3), and that in itself makes Rodgers a strong MVP candidate.  But Rodgers probably increased his lead in the MVP race by completing 29-of-38 passes for 288 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 114.8 passer rating.

One more week remains in the NFL regular season, but Rodgers probably will not play next week against Detroit, and no one seems capable of catching him for the top NFL award.

Rodgers led the NFL in passer rating entering the weekend with a mark of 110.8, and he improved that slightly. He has 18 touchdown passes with no interceptions over the past six games, when the Packers demonstrated their superiority.

He now has 35 touchdown passes with just four interceptions for the season, and none of the other quarterback MVP candidates has thrown fewer than 11 interceptions.

It looks like Tom Brady is Rodgers' only remaining MVP competition heading into the final weekend, and Brady is a long shot.

Brady threw three touchdown passes with one interception and had a pretty good 104.6 passer rating in a 28-24 victory over the Jets. He led the Buccaneers on a game-winning 93-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 33-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left, which is the kind of performance that sways MVP voters. It also improved the Bucs' record to 12-4, which probably meant even more for Brady's chances to win a fourth MVP. The Bucs play Carolina next week to finish the regular season, but the gap between him and Rodgers in the MVP competition seems sizable.

Making a late push in the MVP race is Joe Burrow. The Bengals are 10-6, and Burrow has been spectacular the past two weeks, posting passer ratings better than 140 in each of those two wins, including Sunday's 34-31 victory over Kansas City. Burrow was second in the NFL in passer rating heading into this weekend, and he might end up with the best passer rating at season's end. Burrow wasn't even in the MVP discussion until now, so he won't win it, but I might vote him No. 2 on my MVP ballot if I had a vote.

The other four contenders all experienced things that worked against them in the minds of MVP voters.

Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, who became Rodgers' closest MVP pursuer this past week according to oddsmakers, rushed for 108 yards in the 23-20 loss to the Raiders. He has 1,734 rushing yards for the season, but the loss dropped Indianapolis' record to 9-7, which is not good enough for MVP consideration.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had good numbers against the Bengals, with two touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 113.9 passer rating. But Kansas City lost the game, dropping its record to 11-5, and that hurt Mahomes' fleeting MVP chances.

The Bills improved to 10-6 with a 29-15 win over Atlanta, and that record might be enough to keep quarterback Josh Allen on the fringe of the MVP conversation if he hadn't had a horrible game statistically. He was 11-for-26 for 120 yards, no touchdowns, three interceptions and a miniscule passer rating of 17.0, the worst passer rating of his career.

Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was still getting some MVP hype heading into this weekend, and the Rams beat the Ravens 20-19 to improve to 12-4, certainly good enough for their quarterback to get MVP consideration. Stafford threw two touchdown passes but also threw two interceptions, giving him six interceptions over the past three games.  That's not a good look. The Rams finish against the 49ers.

Finally, Rams receiver Cooper Kupp had another big game with 95 receiving yards and a touchdown, but a receiver has never won the MVP since the Associated Press started awarding it in 1957.

None can compare with Rodgers and the Packers, whose 13-3 record is the best in the NFL. Rodgers seems destined to become just the second player to win four MVPs.  Peyton Manning is the other, and he won five of them.

We're assuming Rodgers will not play next week since the Packers have nothing to gain, having already clinched the only first-round bye in the NFC. That would mean Rodgers went 13-2 as a starter this season. (He sat out one of Green Bay's losses while on the COVID/reserve list.) And all this came after his disastrous performance in the season-opening loss to New Orleans when he threw two picks.

This is Rodgers' first touchdown pass Sunday night, hitting Allen Lazard in the end zone:

Here is Rodgers second TD pass, this one to Davante Adams:

Here's how other former Cal players fared in the NFL on Sunday:

Cameron Jordan, Saints defensive end: Jordan had his best game of the season with eight tackles, including 3.5 sacks, in New Orleans' 18-10 victory over Carolina, which kept the Saints' playoff hopes alive. Jordan's final sacks came with 54 seconds left and came one play before the Saints came up with an interception to seal the win. Jordan (No. 94) now has 11.5 sacks for the season with one game remaining against the Falcons.

Jordan (No. 94) now has 11.5 sacks for the season with one game remaining against the Falcons. He has recorded 7.5 sacks over his past three games, and he seems to be getting stronger.

Jared Goff, Lions quarterback: Goff sat out his second straight game, although this time it was for a knee injury after being sidelined by COVID last week. It remains unclear whether he will be ready to start in next week's season finale against fellow Cal alum Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.  Tim Boyle started in place of Goff on Sunday, and Boyle threw two touchdown passes and three interceptions in Detroit's 51-29 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Jake Curhan, Seahawks offensive lineman: Curhan made his fourth straight start at right tackle and helped the Seahawks beat the Lions. Seattle had 265 rushing yards, including 170 by Rashaad Penny. Russell Wilson was sacked just once.

Keenan Allen, Chargers wide receiver: Allen had four catches for 44 yards and a touchdown in the Chargers' 34-14 victory over the Broncos that helped Los Angeles move a step closer to a playoff berth. Allen now has 100 catches for the season, the fourth time in the past five seasons he has hit the century mark in receptions. He had 1,086 receiving yards and six touchdown catches.

Allen's TD catch

DeSean Jackson, Raiders wider receiver: Jackson had one catch for 5 yards in the Raiders' 23-20 victory over Colts that kept the Raiders' playoff hopes alive. He has 20 reception for 454 yards for the season.

Marvin Jones Jr., Jaguars wide receiver: Jones had two catches for 46 yards in a 50-10 loss to the Patriots. He has 66 receptions for 754 yards this year.

Ashtyn Davis, Jets safety: Davis made his 10th start of the season and had two tackles in a 28-24 loss to the Buccaneers.

Patrick Mekari, Ravens offensive lineman: Mekari made his 11th start of the season at right tackle, but Baltimore lost to the Rams 20-19.

Jaylinn Hawkins, Falcons safety: Hawkins did not play in Sunday's 29-15 loss to the Bills after being placed on the COVID/reserve list this week.

Jordan Kunaszy, Washington linebacker: Kunaszyk played in the 20-16 loss to the Eagles but he did record any statistics.

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Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Benny Sieu, USA TODAY Sports

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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.

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