Cal Sports Report

Cal in NFL: Aaron Rodgers Closes Gap in MVP Race With Patrick Mahomes

Packers QB has strong game on national TV. Ex-Cal QB Jared Goff suffers broken right thumb. Alex Mack’s career may be over

Jake Curtis

Cal in NFL: Aaron Rodgers Closes Gap in MVP Race With Patrick Mahomes
Cal in NFL: Aaron Rodgers Closes Gap in MVP Race With Patrick Mahomes /

Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes seemed to grab the lead in the two-man MVP race last week; but former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers closed the gap while leading the Packers to a 40-13 victory over a Tennessee Titans Sunday night.

Rodgers’ mediocre second-half showing in last week’s 24-16 win over the Panthers pushed Mahomes into the driver’s seat in the MVP competition. But Rodgers responded by going 21-for-25 for 231 yards, four touchdowns, one interception and a 128.2 passer rating. And he did it on a nationally televised Sunday night game while dropping 40 points on a Tennessee team that was 10-4 and fighting for a playoff berth.

Rodgers’ second touchdown pass

Meanwhile, Mahomes did not have a great game in the Chiefs’ 17-14 victory over the Falcons. He was 24-for-44 for 278 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a season-low 79.6 passer rating. Plus his team scored just 17 points against one of the NFL’s worst defenses.

Rodgers entered the weekend leading the league in passer rating (118.0), and will increase his lead in that category after Sunday’s showing. Rodgers also leads the NFL in touchdown passes (44) and fewest interceptions (5) for quarterbacks who played more than 10 games.

Mahomes has 38 touchdown passes with six interceptions, but leads the league in passing yards per game.

And Mahomes has one major statistic in his favor. With the win, the Chiefs improved to 14-1 with a chance to finish 15-1 if they beat the Chargers (6-9) in their regular-season finale.

The last three teams that went through the regular season with one or zero losses all had their quarterbacks named MVP – the 2007 Patriots (Tom Brady), 2011 Packers (Rodgers) and 2015 Panthers (Cam Newton). However, if we take a longer look, only six of the 12 teams that finished with one or zero regular-season losses since 1942 produced the NFL MVP that season.

The looming question is whether Mahomes will play next week. The Chiefs have already clinched the only bye an AFC team will get in the postseason, so they have nothing to gain against the Chargers. Rodgers needs to play next week against Chicago, because the 12-3 Packers have not clinched a first-round bye.

By the way, the long-shot MVP bid by Titans running back Derrick Henry presumably ended Sunday night when he ran for 98 yards. That increased his season total to 1,777 yards, which should earn him a rushing title but probably did not get him close enough to the 2,000-yard milestone he needed to have a say in the MVP race. And his performance paled in direct comparison to Rodgers'.

Rodgers was not the only former Cal player who deserves mention, so let’s take a look at how the other ex-Golden Bears did this week.

---Falcons center Alex Mack did not play in Sunday’s 17-14 loss to the Chiefs because of a concussion. It ended a streak of 94 consecutive regular-season starts for Mack, and if he cannot play in the final game next week, his time with the Falcons could be over. In fact, it’s possible the pro career could be over for the 35-year-old Mack, who is in his 12th NFL season.

Mack becomes a free agent after this season, and the Falcons are unlikely to re-sign him. Mack said before this season that he would decide after the 2020 season whether he’ll retire or come back for 2021.

---Rams quarterback Jared Goff struggled in Sunday’s 20-9 loss to Seattle. Goff was 24-for-43 for 234 yards, no touchdowns, one interception and a 61.6 passer rating. The nine points are the fewest the Rams have scored in a game this season.

Goff had an excuse for his showing late in the game. In the fourth quarter, he hit his throwing hand on a helmet, which dislocated this right thumb. Goff popped it back into place between plays and stayed in the game, but could not lead a comeback.

It was reported later by NFL.com that Goff actually suffered a broken thumb, and here is a video of the gruesome injury and Goff putting it back in place:

A doctor analyzes Goff's injury in this video, with some graphic photos:

It’s unclear whether Goff will play in next week’s critical game against the Cardinals, but it seems unlikely if it is in fact broken, as reported by multiple media outlets.

It was the second straight loss for Los Angeles, and Sunday’s defeat prevented the Rams for locking up a playoff berth. 

---Texans receiver Chad Hansen has been one of the pleasant surprises in the NFL after being elevated from the Texans practice squad before their Dec. 6 game. But after recording 14 receptions for 212 yards in his first three games, he had just one catch for 8 yards in Sunday’s 37-31 loss to the Bengals.

---Chargers tight end Stephen Anderson had just one reception for 6 yards this season before getting four catches for 48 yards in the win over the Broncos on Sunday. It was the most catches and receiving yards for Anderson since he had a career-high five receptions and a career-high 79 receiving yards in the same 2017 game while playing for Houston.

---Cowboys long-snapper L.P. Ladouceur played in his 252nd consecutive regular-season game in a 37-17 win over the Eagles. That is the longest active streak in the NFL and the sixth-longest run of games played in NFL history. He is just two games short of tying for the fifth-most consecutive games and four games shy of the fourth most. Including playoffs, Ladouceur has played in 262 straight games.

---Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson played for the first time since injuring his hamstring in a game on Oct. 22. He had only one catch in Sunday’s 37-17 loss to the Cowboys, but it was a big one – an 81-yard touchdown catch from Jalen Hurts. That put the Eagles ahead 14-3, but the Eagles’ offense did little after that. Jackson has 14 receptions in the five games he has played this season after playing just three games in 2019.

---Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen did not play in Sunday’s game against Broncos because of a hamstring injury,

---Washington linebacker Michal Kendricks was signed off the Panthers’ practice squad on Dec. 21, but he did not record any statistics in Sunday’s game against the Panthers.

---Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan had three tackles, including one sack, and added one quarterback hit in Saturday’s 52-33 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Jordan, who was selected as a Pro Bowl starter this week, has 7.5 sacks for the season, after collecting 15.5 sacks last year.

Jordan was ejected from last week’s game against Kansas City for throwing a punch late in that game, and that also resulted in Jordan being fined $10,500 by the NFL.

---Vikings linebacker Hardy Nickerson, who elevated from the Vikings practice squad on Dec. 12, had had a season-high five tackles, including three solo stops, and also knocked down a pass in Minnesota’s 52-33 loss to the Saints on Saturday. He has played 13 games, including one start, this season and has collected 13 tackles.

Nickerson, who was signed to the Vikings practice squad on Dec. 3, played his first three college seasons at Cal before playing his final year at Illinois, whose defensive coordinator at the time was former Cal star Hardy Nickerson Sr.

---Lions receiver Marvin Jones Jr. had three receptions for just 19 yards in the 47-7 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday. He had at least 39 receiving yards in each of the previous nine games, including 112 yards last week against the Titans and a season-high 116 yards three weeks ago against Chicago.

Jones was on the field for just 50 offensive plays against the Buccaneers, which tied a season low. That’s no doubt because the game was a blowout. The fact that Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford left the game with an injury on the Lions’ first possession didn’t help either.

---Dolphins running back Patrick Laird was listed as Miami’s second-string running back heading into Saturday’s game against the Raiders, but he did not play a single down on offense in the Dolphins’ 26-25 win. He did play 15 snaps in that game, but they were all on special teams. It ended a streak of seven straight games in which he had played at least eight plays on offense, including a season-high 42 offensive snaps two weeks ago against the Chiefs.

---Steelers nose guard Tyson Alualu had three tackles, including one for a loss, in Pittsburgh’s 28-24 victory over the Colts. All his tackles came early in the game.

---Jets rookie safety Ashtyn Davis is out for the rest of the season with a foot injury. He played in 10 games this season, including six starts.

---Texans punter Bryan Anger averaged 45.0 yards on four punts, including two inside the 20-yard line, in Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati.

---Falcons rookie safety Jaylinn Hawkins was listed as a second-stringer heading into Sunday’s 17-14 loss to the Chiefs, but Hawkins did not record any statistics in that game.

---Ravens center Patrick Mekari was a starter Sunday and helped the Ravens rush for 249 yards in the 27-13 victory over the Giants.

---Giants linebacker Devante Downs was listed a second-string player heading into Sunday’s 27-13 loss to the Ravens, but he did not record any statistic in that game.

.

Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis-Imagn Content Services, LLC

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Cal Sports Report on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.

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