Chris Olave — Week 2: Five Catches in the Fourth, One Score
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Olave caught 8 of 10 targets for 86 yards and a touchdown, and all five of his second-half catches came in the fourth quarter: 3, 12 on third and five, the 21-yard touchdown that set up the tying two-point try, 15, and 3 on third and two on the winning drive. He converted three of his four third-down targets and led the Saints in targets for the second straight week, in a 24–17 win over the Ravens.
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17 to nine, Ravens, nine 47 left in the fourth quarter, second and four at the Baltimore 21. Tyler Shough threw deep middle to Chris Olave for 21 yards and the touchdown. +2.6 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 10.7 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. Travis Etienne ran in the two-point try, and a game the Saints had trailed since the first quarter was tied at 17.
The line: 10 targets, eight catches, 86 yards, one touchdown, six first downs, +6.5 expected points on his targets. A hundred four air yards, 18 after the catch. The catches went 20, one, 11, three, 12, 21, 15 three. The 20 came on second and 11 from the New Orleans 34 with two 20 left in the first quarter, deep left to the Baltimore 46, and an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on Olave after it moved the ball 15 yards back; that drive ended in a punt. The 11 was third and eight at the Baltimore 33 in the second quarter, converted, on the drive that produced the first New Orleans field goal. Two incompletions: a first-down throw in the second quarter, and third and four at the Baltimore 33 with 11 10 left in the third, deep left, 21 yards in the air, which brought on a 51-yard field goal. Then the fourth quarter, five targets and five catches for 54 yards: three, 12 on third and five, the touchdown, 15 on second and 10 from the New Orleans 32 on the winning drive, and three on third and two at the Baltimore 35 with four 13 left, converted. Four third-down targets, three caught, three converted.
10 of Shough's 34 throws went to Olave, with Devaughn Vele next at seven, Alvin Kamara six and Juwan Johnson four. Four of the 10 came before halftime for three catches and 32 yards, six after for five and 54.
Back in June the preview's read on Olave was a top-10 receiver season built on target volume as the clear first option, with availability as the recurring question; the role and the health had rarely arrived together. Week 1 was 10 catches for a hundred 82 yards on 13 targets in an overtime loss to the Lions, with an injury note in the play-by-play and a return before regulation ended. Sunday was 10 more targets, the team high again, and no injury note beside his name. Two games, 23 targets, 18 catches, 268 yards. The volume half of the read is holding; the availability half is a 17-game question and two games do not answer it. New Orleans is home to the Raiders on Sunday the 20-seventh.
_Data via nflverse._
When Chris Olave's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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