Eight Pro Bears In Divisional Round Of NFL Playoffs
BERKELEY – Eight former Cal football student-athletes are members of teams heading to the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs next Saturday-Sunday, Jan. 11-12. Bryan Anger and Chad Hansen became the first two former Cal players to advance out of the Wild Card Round on Saturday when No. 4 AFC seed Houston came back from a 16-0 deficit to defeat No. 5 Buffalo in overtime, 22-19. Mychal Kendricks and Marshawn Lynch moved on to the Divisional Round when No. 5 NFC seed Seattle won, 17-9, at No. 4 NFC seed Philadelphia on Sunday.
Lynch had the first of Seattle's two touchdowns on a five-yard run in the second quarter while finishing with six rushes for seven yards and two receptions for 25 yards, while Anger trapped the Bills inside their own 20-yard line on three of his five punts. Anger had a long punt of 56 yards and averaged 43.2 yards (41.6 net) on his five punts.
The four Pro Bears that advanced out of the Wild Card Round join four that had byes to the Divisional Round in James Looney (Green Bay), Patrick Mekari (Baltimore), Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) and Mitchell Schwarz (Kansas City).
Six of the eight former Cal players – Anger, Lynch, Mekari, Kendricks, Rodgers and Schwartz – are on active rosters although Kendricks is out for the entire playoffs with an injury suffered in the regular-season finale against San Francisco. Hansen and Looney are on practice squads.
Mekari will be the only one of the five in action Saturday when Baltimore squad hosts No. 6 AFC seed Tennessee at 8:15 pm ET/5:15 pm PT on CBS after the Titans knocked off the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots on Saturday. The Ravens earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC and a bye to the Divisional Round by posting a 14-2 regular-season that was the league's best and winning the NFC North.
Schwartz and Kansas City will host a Houston squad with Anger and Houston in Sunday's first game (2:05 pm CT/12:05 pm PT) on CBS. The Chiefs picked up the AFC's No. 2 seed after posting a 12-4 regular-season record and winning the AFC West title.
Sunday's nightcap will feature four Golden Bears when a Green Bay squad with Rodgers and Looney welcomes a Seattle team with Kendricks and Lynch to Lambeau Field for a 5:40 pm CT/3:40 pm PT start on FOX. The No. 2 NFC seeded Packers were 13-3 in the regular season and winners of the NFC North.
Five Bears – Lorenzo Alexander (Buffalo), DeSean Jackson (Philadelphia practice squad), Cameron Jordan (New Orleans), Richard Rodgers (Philadelphia), Davis Webb (Buffalo practice squad) – were on teams that were eliminated from the playoffs with losses in the Wild Card Round. Alexander and Jordan both had three tackles in their respective losses to the Texans and Vikings, with Jordan adding one sack (-4 yards), one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit. Alexander announced his retirement after 15 NFL seasons following the Bills' loss. Richard Rodgers participated in Philadelphia's loss to the Seahawks but did not record any statistics other than participation.
Players on teams that win Divisional Round games will advance to the AFC (3:05 pm ET/12:05 pm PT, CBS) and NFC (6:40 pm ET/3:40 pm PT, FOX) Championship Games on Sunday, Jan. 19. Super Bowl LIV is scheduled to be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Sunday, Feb. 2 (6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT).
A total of 28 former Cal players have captured 36 Super Bowl rings including 21 over the last 19 seasons. Stephen Anderson and Brian Schwenke were the most recent former Cal players to pick up Super Bowl rings for the New England Patriots last season at Super Bowl LIII although neither played in the contest. Anderson was on the Patriots' 53-player roster for the contest but inactive on gameday, while Schwenke was on injured reserve.