Christian Watson — Week 2: Eleven Targets, Four Catches
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Watson was thrown to 11 times and caught 4 for 41 yards, one of them a 3-yard touchdown on second and three that cut it to 17–14 with 8:02 left in the fourth. Five of the targets were third downs; one was caught and none converted. His 11 targets were 38 percent of Jordan Love's throws, in a 20–17 overtime win over the Jets.
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17 to seven, Jets, eight oh two left in the fourth quarter, second and three at the New York three. Jordan Love threw short middle to Christian Watson for the touchdown. +1.4 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 1.9 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. It was his third catch of the afternoon, on his eighth target.
The line: 11 targets, four catches, 41 yards, one touchdown, two first downs, −3.8 expected points on the targets, the lowest figure among the eight Packers thrown to. The catches: 20 yards deep middle on second and eight from midfield with 14 20 left in the second quarter, 13 on first and 20 to the New York 15 later on the same drive, the touchdown, and five yards on third and 10 with a minute five left in regulation. Both of the first two came on the possession that ended in Green Bay's first touchdown. The third downs are the story of the other seven. Five of his 11 targets came on third down; one was caught, for five yards on third and 10, and none moved the chains. The costliest was third and seven at the New York 16 with three oh nine left, down 17 to 14, short right, incomplete: −9.1 points of win probability, the largest loss on any Packers run or pass play all day. Green Bay kicked the tying field goal on the next snap. Four targets before halftime for two catches and 33 yards; seven after for two catches and eight. He was also flagged for holding in the first quarter, which took a three-yard MarShawn Lloyd run off the board.
11 targets led the team, ahead of six to Matthew Golden and three each to Tucker Kraft and Skyy Moore, and they were 38 percent of Love's 29 throws. Jayden Reed left injured on the second snap of the game. Watson's 86 air yards were the most on the team, six ahead of Golden, and he finished with 41 yards to Golden's 58.
Back in June the preview made no call on Watson: the 20-ninth receiver off the board, a top-15 per-game rate built on five and a half targets a game and a 27 percent touchdown share, with target volume past six or seven a game as the September watch. Week 1 was eight targets, six catches, a hundred 47 yards and two touchdowns, and that episode asked whether eight was the new normal or a Sunday. The count went up to 11 and the production went the other way: four catches, 41 yards. 19 targets in two games is the volume the preview asked for. A touchdown in each game is the share it said would come down. Two games, one of each kind, and the volume is the part that repeated. Green Bay is home to the Falcons on Thursday the 20-fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
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