Cooper Kupp — Week 1: A Touchdown That Came Back
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Thursday, Sep 10
Kupp caught a seven-yard touchdown from Drew Lock on third and four in the third quarter and lost it to an illegal shift; Seattle kicked a field goal instead. He finished with two catches for thirty-five yards on three targets, including the twenty-four-yard third-down catch earlier on that drive, on a night the offense sent eleven of its twenty-four throws to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
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Cooper Kupp scored a touchdown Wednesday night and the box score will not show it. Third quarter, three 25 left, third and four at the New England seven, Seattle down 10 to nothing: Drew Lock threw short left to Kupp for seven yards and a touchdown, and an illegal shift on the offense wiped it out. Seattle kicked a 30-yard field goal two snaps later. That drive had gotten there because of Kupp too — third and four at the New England 37, Lock deep right to Kupp for 24 yards to the 13, the throw that turned a punt into points. 2.6 expected points added on that catch, the most valuable Seattle play of the first three quarters. Expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position.
The official line is two catches for 35 yards on three targets, the nullified touchdown not among them. The other catch was 11 yards on first and 10 from the New England 23 in the fourth quarter, part of the drive that produced the go-ahead field goal. The one incompletion was the first play of the second quarter, third and five, a deep ball down the left side that Christian Gonzalez covered. Two of his three official targets came on third down, and both of the third-down catches — the 24-yarder and the nullified touchdown — moved the chains or would have.
The share is the number to be honest about. Seattle threw 24 passes; 11 went to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, three to Kupp, three to Rashid Shaheed, and nobody else was thrown to more than twice. Back in June the preview's single question was whether the second-receiver role survives another year of calendar at 33, and August offered no evidence either way because the first offense never played a series. Wednesday's evidence is three targets, two of them in situations where the offense needed a first down and went to him, and a touchdown that the officials took back. That is a second receiver's night on a bad night for the offense, and it says nothing yet about how many of those nights there are. Next up is Arizona; the count to watch is targets, not yards.
_Data via nflverse._
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