Chris Godwin — Week 2: Three Targets, Three First Downs
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Godwin caught all three of his targets for 46 yards, each one a first down, and ran once for 12 yards and a fourth. He was not thrown to before halftime. His eight-yard catch on third and one with 2:37 left kept Tampa Bay's final drive alive, and his three targets were the fewest of the seven Buccaneers thrown to, in a 23–19 loss to the Browns.
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23 to 19, Browns, two 37 left, third and one at the Cleveland 42. Baker Mayfield threw short left to Chris Godwin, eight yards, pushed out at the 34. +0.9 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 6.1 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. It kept alive a final drive that reached the Cleveland 13 before it ended on downs at the 20.
The line: three targets, three catches, 46 yards, three first downs, +3.9 expected points on his targets, the highest figure for any Buccaneer who was thrown to. The first was the first snap of the second half, first and 10 at the Tampa Bay 35, deep right, 17 yards in the air, 24 in all, pushed out at the Cleveland 41; that drive ended in Emeka Egbuka's touchdown. The second was 14 over the middle on second and 10 from the Tampa Bay 16 with 12 44 left in the fourth, one snap before Tez Johnson's 49-yard catch. The third was the eight. He also carried once, on Tampa Bay's first offensive snap: first and five at the Tampa Bay 41 after an encroachment penalty, around right end for 12 and a first down. No targets before halftime. A nine-yard catch on third and eight in the second quarter came back on a holding penalty.
Three targets was the fewest among the seven Buccaneers thrown to. Ted Hurst had seven, Cade Otton six, Egbuka five, and Bucky Irving, Kenneth Gainwell and Johnson four each.
Back in June the preview's read on Godwin was a proven top receiver coming off back-to-back lower-leg injuries, with an open door after Mike Evans left; health first, then target share. Week 1 was four catches on four targets for 40 yards, and the number to watch was the target count. It went from four to three, on a day Mayfield threw 34 times. Through two games he has caught all seven balls thrown to him for 86 yards, and he had the ball in his hands in the first quarter and the fourth on Sunday. The health half of the read looks fine so far. The volume half is seven targets on 62 throws. Two games settle little. Tampa Bay is home to the Vikings on Sunday the 20-seventh.
_Data via nflverse._
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