Cal Sports Report

Cal in NFL: Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff Outstanding in Week 2 Wins

Ex-Golden Bear QBs lead Packers, Lions to their first victories; Ashtyn Davis makes game-clinching interception for Jets

Jake Curtis

The two NFL starting quarterbacks from Cal -- Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff -- had outstanding games in Week 2 of the season, helping their teams improve to 1-1.

It was similar to last year for Rodgers, who again bounced back from a poor performance in a season-opening loss by coming up with a strong showing to lead the Packers to a victory in Week 2.  

He was 19-for-25 for 234 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 131.1 passer rating in Green Bay's 27-10 triumph over the Chicago Bears Sunday night in Green Bay. 

Rodgers finished the game with 14 straight completions, which matches his NFL career high for consecutive completions.  But it was well short of the 23 straight completions he had in 2004 as Cal's quarterback in a 23-17 loss to No. 1 USC, tying the NCAA record for consecutive completed passes.

Rodgers also continued his dominance over the Bears.  The Packers have defeated Chicago seven straight times with Rodgers as their starting quarterback, and Rodgers has thrown 18 touchdown passes with no interceptions in those seven games.

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This fourth-quarter completion virtually assured the Packers' victory

This TD pass late in the second quarter gave Green Bay a 24-7 lead at halftime:

Actually the biggest play of the game was provided by the Packers' defense when it stopped Bears quarterback on a fourth-down run from the one-foot line.

---Earlier Sunday, Goff had one of the best days of his career, going 20-for-34 for 256 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in Detroit's 36-27 win over Washington. 

OK, he was sacked three times, but his 121.7 passer rating was impressive.  Over his past seven games, including his last five games of 2021, Goff has thrown 17 touchdown passes with three interceptions, and the Lions are 4-3 in those games.

Goff's first TD pass of the day was the best because Goff had to maneuver in the pocket and throw on the move. This kind of pass was not supposed to be his strength:

How other former Cal players did in the NFL Sunday:

---Jets safety Ashtyn Davis did not start Sunday's matchup with the Browns, but he produced one of the biggest plays of the game.  Cleveland trailed by a point and had the ball at its own 46-yard line with 13 seconds left when Jacoby Brissett threw a pass that was intercepted by Davis and returned 14 yards with six seconds left. 

A completion would have put the Browns in position to kick a game-winning field goal. Instead, the Jets won 31-30 by scoring two touchdowns in the final 1:22 of the game capped off by Davis' pick.

---Browns linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk played in the game against the Jets and made one tackle on special teams.

---Jaguars wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. had three catches for 33 yards in Jacksonville's 24-0 victory over the Colts.

---Patrick Mekari was the starting left guard for Baltimore, which averaged 6.2 yards per rushing attempt and did not allow any sacks.  Nonethless, the Ravens blew a 35-14 lead after three quarters in their 42-28 loss to the Dolphins.

---Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan had three tackles, including one for a loss, but New Orleans lost to Tampa Bay 20-10.

---Tyson Alualu was the Steelers' starting nose tackle against New England and he had two tackles plus a quarterback hurry in Pittsburgh's 17-14 loss.

---Dallas Cowboys punter Bryan Anger punted five times for an average of 43.4 yards per kick, with four of the five punts inside the 20-yard line. Dallas beat Cincinnati 20-17. His final punt, with 2:12 remaining, pinned the Bengals back at their own 8-yard line.

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Cover photo of Jared Goff by Junfu Han, 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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