Brock Bowers — Week 3: Ten Catches in His Season Debut
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 28
In his first game of the season, Bowers caught 10 of 13 targets for 116 yards, seven first downs and the 4-yard touchdown on third and four with 6:28 left that made it 34–27. Seven of his targets came on third down, five were caught and all five converted — five of the Raiders' seven third-down conversions — in a 35–27 win over the Saints.
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28 to 27, Raiders, six 28 left in the fourth quarter, third and four at the New Orleans four. An interception return and a fumble had handed Las Vegas the ball at the Saints four, and two Ashton Jeanty runs had netted nothing. Kirk Cousins threw short left to Brock Bowers for the touchdown. +2.5 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and eight points of win probability, the change in the chance of winning from before the play to after it. The extra point made it 35 to 27, the final score.
It was his first game of the season. Bowers had a meniscus trim on his knee in early September, per NFL Network, and missed the first two weeks.
The line: 13 targets, 10 catches, a hundred 16 yards, one touchdown, seven first downs, +8.6 expected points on the targets, the highest figure for any player thrown to in the game. The first three catches came on the opening drive: eight yards on the first Raiders snap of the day, 18 to the Saints 35, and 11 on third and three to the 17, converted, before a field goal. Then five yards late in the first quarter; 19 on second and eight to the Saints 21, on the drive that ended in Michael Mayer's touchdown; 11 on third and eight with a minute 10 left in the half, and 15 on third and 14 to the 14 with 19 seconds left, upheld on replay, on the drive that ended in the field goal for a 16-to-13 halftime lead. After the break, five yards; 20 deep left on third and four from the Las Vegas 35, down 27 to 16, on the drive that ended in Mike Washington's touchdown; and the four. Seven targets came on third down, five were caught and all five converted — five of the Raiders' seven third-down conversions. The misses: third and five at the Saints 18 in the second quarter, before a field goal; second and seven at the seven with seven seconds left in the half; and third and five in the third quarter, before a punt. Nine targets before halftime for seven catches and 87 yards, four after for three catches and 29.
13 targets were 43 percent of the 30 Raiders throws that had a receiver, tied with Chris Olave for the most by anyone in the game. His hundred 16 yards led all receivers, ahead of Olave's hundred seven, and were close to half of Cousins's 248. In the first two games, without him, no Raider had more than seven targets.
Back in June the preview leaned against Bowers next to Trey McBride, and said it with respect: 23 percent of the targets, 64 catches, 680 yards and seven touchdowns in 12 games, played through a knee sprain before injured reserve in December, after a rookie year of a hundred 12 catches. The case against him was targets per game, 7.2 last season; the preview's own caveat was that the healthy version had exactly the volume the pattern rewards. His first game back was 13 targets. That is one game, after a knee procedure, and the knee is what a second game tests first. Las Vegas is home to the Chiefs on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Brock Bowers's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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