Occipital plates and assemblies combining occipital plates with one of several types of spinal rods or cervical plates in a procedure to fuse a portion of a skull to a portion of a spine. An array of different occipital plates are disclosed, including options for making adjustments to the occipital plates by bending thinned portions of the occipital plates. The spinal rods engage polyaxial connector assemblies that are rotated posterior of the bony attachment section that provides an array of screw holes for affixing the occipital plate to the skull using at least one non-angled and non-articulated instrument. One or more holes for securing tensioning cables are provided in the occipital plates. Additional variations of these concepts are disclosed. Methods of using the disclosed components in surgical procedures are disclosed.