Alec Pierce — Week 1: A Hundred Three Air Yards, Two Deep Misses
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 14
Pierce caught four of six targets for sixty-one yards, and the two he did not catch were deep third downs — thirty-three yards in the air on third and ten, eighteen on third and seven — that both ended in punts. His six targets carried a hundred three air yards, the most of any Colt, and his fourteen- and twenty-three-yard catches in the space of three no-huddle snaps set up Tyler Warren's touchdown in a 41–23 loss to the Ravens.
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The two throws to Alec Pierce that would have kept drives alive were both deep and both fell incomplete. Third and 10 at the Indianapolis 20, four 46 left in the half, down 28 to six: Daniel Jones deep middle, 33 yards in the air, Marlon Humphrey credited on the breakup, incomplete, punt. Third and seven at the Indianapolis 40, one 31 left in the third, down 31 to 16: deep middle again, 18 in the air, Nate Wiggins credited, incomplete, punt. Together they were worth −2 and a half expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position. Indianapolis converted three of 10 third downs on Sunday, and those were two of the seven it did not.
What he caught: 13 yards short left on first and 10 from the Baltimore 19 on the opening drive, to the six, two plays before Jonathan Taylor's touchdown; 11 yards short middle on second and nine in the third; and then two in the space of three snaps in the no-huddle with the game out of reach. First and 10 at the Indianapolis 48, 11 47 left in the fourth, short left, pushed out at the Baltimore 38 for 14. Second and four at the 32, deep middle, 23 yards to the nine — +1.4 expected points, and Humphrey was injured on the play, per the play-by-play note. The next snap was Warren's nine-yard touchdown. Six targets, four catches, 61 yards, no touchdowns, +1.9 expected points on the targets, and a hundred three air yards on the six throws, which is more than any other Colt was thrown at: Josh Downs's four targets carried 36, Warren's five carried 23, Keenan Allen's six carried 22.
Six targets tied him with Allen for the most on the team, on 33 Colts pass plays. Two of the six came before halftime and four after, and the two no-huddle catches were the two longest Colts completions after the break. Allen caught six of six for 32 yards; Pierce caught four of six for 61; that is the difference between the two roles in one line.
Back in June the preview's read on Pierce was a WR24 season — about 94 percent availability, the league lead in yards per catch — built on efficiency and big-play rate rather than volume, at a price that said WR35. Sunday was the profile as written: the deepest throws on the team, 61 yards on four catches, two deep shots that did not land on third down. One game does not move a rate stat, and the number worth watching is the six targets, which for a receiver the preview called a low-volume player is a real share. Indianapolis is at the Chiefs on Sunday night the twentieth.
_Data via nflverse._
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