Cal Sports Report

Cal in NFL: Keenan Allen Has Productive Game in Loss

Patrick Meari gets a start; Patrick Laird gets a carry; Marvin Jones gets a touchdown

Jake Curtis

Cal in NFL: Keenan Allen Has Productive Game in Loss
Cal in NFL: Keenan Allen Has Productive Game in Loss /

Sunday’s NFL action did include a lot of production by former Cal players, but Keenan Allen had a big day in a losing cause.

Allen, who played for Cal from 2010 through 2012, had nine receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown, but his Los Angeles Chargers lost to the Las Vegas Raiders 31-26.

Two of Allen’s receptions came on the Chargers’ final possession when they marched to the Raiders’ 4-yard line. On the final play of the game, Justin Herbert threw a pass to Donald Parham Jr. that was initially ruled a touchdown and would have won the game for Los Angeles. But after a replay review, the call was reversed to an incompletion, giving the Raiders the win.

Here is Allen’s touchdown catch and subsequent dance:

Here is what other former Cal players did in Week 9.

---Lions wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. had three catches for 43 yards and a touchdown in Detroit’s 34-20 loss to the Vikings. Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford had to leave the game with an injury in the second half, and his replacement, Chase Daniel, targeted Jones just once and the pass was incomplete.

Halfway through the regular season, Jones has 25 receptions for 308 yards and four touchdowns. His 3.1 catches per game and 38.1 yards per contest in 2020 are his lowest rates since his rookie season in 2012.

Here is Jones' touchdown catch:

---Ravens right guard Patrick Mekari was in the starting lineup in Baltimore’s 24-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts. The Ravens did not allow any sacks in that contest.

Mekari (65) pulls from his right guard spot to make a block on this touchdown run:

---Dolphins running back Patrick Laird got his first carry of the season while getting some rare playing time Sunday, presumably because of the injury to Myles Gaskin. Unfortunately Laird's lone rushing attempt went for a loss of one yard. However, he also had a reception for 17 yards in the 34-31 upset of the Arizona Cardinals.

---Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan made his 137th consecutive start, the third-longest active streak in the NFL, in Sunday night’s game against the Buccaneers. Jordan did not record any tackles in the 38-3 victory over the Bucs, but he did have one quarterback hit.

Through the first eight games of the 16-game regular season, Jordan has 2.5 sacks

---Chiefs offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz missed his third straight game with a back injury. Before these three missed starts he had gone through his entire high school, college and NFL career without missing a single start. That was 232 consecutive starts.

---Texans punter Bryan Anger punted five times for a 44.6 average, with three of them stopping inside the 20-yard line, in Houston’s 27-25 victory over Jacksonville.

---Giants inside linebacker Devante Downs has been in and out of the starting lineup this season, but he picked up four tackles, including three solo stops, in New York’s 23-20 victory over Washington.

---Falcons rookie backup safety Jaylinn Hawkins did not record any statistics in Atlanta’s 34-27 victory over the Broncos.

---Falcons center Alex Mack made his 89th consecutive start in Atlanta’s win over Denver.

---Steelers nose guard Tyson Alualu, who has been a starter for Pittsburgh this season, suffered a knee injury is last week’s game, and did not play in Sunday’s 24-19 win over to the Cowboys.

---Cowboys long-snapper L.P. Ladouceur played in his 246th consecutive regular-season NFL game (255 including playoffs). That is the longest active streak in the NFL, and the seventh-longest regular-season streak alltime. He is just two games behind Morten Andersen for the sixth-longest streak.

---Washington long-snapper Nick Sundberg did his usual errorless snapping in the 23-20 loss to the Giants.

---Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a big game on Thursday, when he went 25-for-31 for 305 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 147.2 passer rating in Green Bay’s 34-17 win over the 49ers.

Rodgers entered Sunday’s action with a 117.5 passer rating, which was second in the NFL behind Russell Wilson.

---Jets safety Ashtyn Davis is expected to be in the starting lineup for Monday night’s game against the Patriots.

---Rams quarterback Jared Goff and Eagles tight end Richard Rodgers had byes this week, and Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson is on injured reserve.

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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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