Cal Sports Report

Cal in NFL: Aaron Rodgers Barely Tops Bailey Zappe (Who?) in OT

Jared Goff throws 4 TD passes in loss. Marvin Jones Jr.'s streak stopped. Double-doink ruins Cameron Jordan's big game

Jake Curtis

A quarterback matchup of former Cal star Aaron Rodgers, who won the past two MVP awards, against rookie, third-stringer Bailey Zappe, who had never even dressed for an NFL game before Sunday, would seem like a mismatch, especially in a game in Green Bay.

However, the rookie from Western Kentucky via Houston Baptist wound up with better statistics than Rodgers and very nearly pulled off the upset before Rodgers came up with the big plays in the overtime period of the Packers' 27-24 victory over the Patriots.

Rodgers had perhaps the worst first half of his career. He was 4-for-11 for 44 yards, no touchdowns and one interception that was returned for a New England touchdown for a passer rating of 11.2.  And before he threw a completion on his final pass of the first half, his passer rating was 3.3. Yikes.

The Pick six

He threw incompletions on his first two pass attempts of the second half, which dropped his passer rating to 8.17. 

He was much better after that, going 17-for-22 for 204 yards, two touchdowns and no more interceptions the rest of the way for a final passer rating of 89.1, still low for a player of Rodgers' standing.

And it was not as good as the 107.4 passer rating produced by Zappe, who was in uniform on the sidelines only because regular starter Mac Jones was out with an injury and replacement starter Brian Hoying needed a backup. But when Hoying went out in the first half with an injury in came Zappe in a hostile environment.

Zappe, finished 10-for-15 for 99 yards and a touchdown throw that put the Patriots ahead 17-14 in the third quarter. He led another touchdown drive, and the Patriots led 24-17 before Rodgers threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to rookie Romeo Doubs with 6:13 left, sending the game into overtime.

Rodgers showed his superiority in the overtime. The Packers went three-and-out on their first possession of OT, but Zappe failed to complete a third-down pass on New England's possession before Green Bay regained possession at its own 10-yard line, needing only a field goal to win.

Rodgers was 4-for-4 for 50 yards in that drive, which ended with Mason Crosby's game-winning 31-yard field goal.

Bottom line: Rodgers and Green Bay are 3-1.

This 11-yard, third-down pass to Randall Cobbs was the pivotal play in overtime.

How other former Cal players did Sunday:

---Jared Goff threw four touchdown passes, including three in the fourth quarter to give Detroit a chance, but the Lions fell to 1-3 with a 48-45 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Goff finished 26-for-39 for 378 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and a 121.5 passer rating, and he helped the Lions score 45 points, including 22 in the fourth quarter.  He threw a pick-six, which hurt, but he rallied the Lions from a 38-22 deficit after three quarters, but ultimately lost another close games. And he did it with several first-team receivers unavailable.

Here is Goff's first TD pass of the day:

Detroit's three losses have been by margins of three, four and three points. Goff has 11 touchdown passes with three picks for the season.

---Jaguars wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. had a long streak of receptions ended Sunday. Jones was targeted just once in the 29-21 loss to Philadelphia and did not have any receptions. It was the first time since Sept. 29, 2013, that Jones played in a game and did not have any catches. It ended a run of 117 consecutive regular-season games in which he played that he had at least one reception. That's 120 straight including three playoff games.

---Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan had a big game against the Vikings in London, but a double-doink on the final play doomed the Saint to 28-25 loss.

Jordan had six tackles, three quarterback hurries and half a sack, giving him 1.5 sacks for the season.

New Orleans had a chance to tie the game, but Will Lutz's 61-yard field goal try hit the upright, then hit the crossbar and bounced back into the field, no good.

Content is unavailable

---Vikings safety Camryn Bynum was a starter in the win over New Orleans and he had six tackles, including the stop on the Saints' 32-yard completion in the closing seconds that got New Orleans close enough to try the long field goal.

---Falcons safety Jaylinn Hawks had a strong game in Atlanta's 23-20 win over the Browns. Hawkins had five tackles and forced a fumble recovered by Atlanta in the firt quarter.

---Linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk got in the game for the Browns, but did not record any statistics.

---Cowboys punter Bryan Anger punted six times in Dallas' 25-10 victory over Washington, and he averaged 42.5 yards, including a 58-yarder, and had two stop inside the 20-yard line.

---Bears fullback Jake Tonges and safety Elijah Hicks both played in Chicago's 20-12 loss to the Giants, but neither registered any stats.

---Ravens offensive lineman Patrick Mekari was inactive for Baltimore's 23-20 loss to the Bills.

---Steelers nose tackle Tyson Alualu was demoted from starter to second team this past week. He played off the bench in Pittsburgh's 24-20 loss to the Jets, but did not have any statistics.

---Jets safety Ashtyn Davis played off the bench against the Steelers but did not have any stats.

---Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen missed his third straight game with a hamstring injury, but the Chargers beat the Texans 34-24.

.

Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Dan Powers, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

.

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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

Published
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