Alec Pierce — Week 2: One Catch for Eleven, Then Nothing

Nothing to nothing, 13-oh-six left in the first quarter, first and 10 at the Indianapolis 47, the fourth snap of the game. Daniel Jones threw short right to Alec Pierce, 10 yards in the air, 11 yards to the Kansas City 42 and a first down. +0.7 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position. Seven plays later Tyler Warren scored from the one. That catch is the whole of Pierce's night in the play-by-play: one target, one catch, 11 yards, and no mention after it of any kind.

The play-by-play carries no injury note on him. CBS Sports reported that Pierce left with a left heel injury, was carted to the locker room and did not return. That is the outlet's report, and nothing in the data adds to it or argues with it.

Where the ball went without him: Josh Downs nine targets, Warren seven, Keenan Allen five, Jonathan Taylor four, Laquon Treadwell three, and one each to Pierce and Andrew Ogletree. The deep work that was his a week ago went to Treadwell, who drew two defensive pass interference calls on deep throws, 26 yards and 23, and caught the 48-yarder in overtime that set up the tying field goal.

Back in June the preview's read on Pierce was a thousand-yard season and the league lead in yards per catch two years running, built on efficiency and big plays rather than volume, and its situation section led with the ankle he had cleaned up in the spring. Week 1 was the profile as written: six targets, tied for the team lead, a hundred three air yards, 61 yards on four catches. One target on Sunday night is not a reading on that role in either direction; it is a night that ended early. Indianapolis is home to the Texans on Sunday the 20-seventh, and whether Pierce plays in it is a question for the injury report, not the play-by-play.

_Data via nflverse._