Dalton Schultz — Week 1: Eight Targets, Four Incompletions
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 14
Schultz was thrown to eight times, second on the Texans behind Nico Collins, and caught four for thirty-five yards. The four incompletions included third and twenty from the Houston twenty-four and second and twelve from the Houston two, and his third-and-nine catch for no gain with 4:10 left, Houston up 31–30, sent the punt to the Buffalo four that started the Bills' winning drive. Eighteen and eight yards came on the last possession of a 36–31 loss.
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Third and nine at the Houston 37, four 10 left in the fourth quarter, Texans up 31 to 30. C.J. Stroud threw short left to Dalton Schultz, who was met at the 37 by Bradley Chubb and Cole Bishop for no gain. −1.3 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and four and a half points of win probability. Houston punted 59 yards to the Buffalo four, and the Bills went 96 yards from there for the touchdown that won it.
The line: eight targets, four catches, 35 yards, no touchdowns, −2.5 expected points on the targets, the only negative total among the Texans thrown to more than once. The four incompletions came first and 10 at the Houston 40 in the second quarter, first and 10 at the Buffalo 36 on the drive David Montgomery finished from the 18, third and 20 from the Houston 24 in the third after a chop-block penalty, and second and 12 from the Houston two on the possession that started at the four after a 63-yard punt. All four were short throws by the play-by-play's description. The catches were nine yards on first down from the Houston 14 with one 24 left in the half, the no-gain on third and nine, and then 18 eight on the first two snaps of the final drive, from the Houston 29 with one 31 left, which put Houston at the Buffalo 45. Three targets before halftime, five after.
Eight targets was second on the team to Nico Collins's 10, ahead of Xavier Hutchinson's six, on 41 Houston pass plays. The other tight ends were thrown to four times: Foster Moreau caught both of his for 15 yards, Marlin Klein his one for 16, and Cade Stover his one for −2. Two of Schultz's eight came on third down, one caught for nothing and one incomplete; Houston converted seven of 16 third downs that stood as plays, and neither of his was among them.
Back in June the preview had Schultz eleventh among tight ends across all 17 games, a consistent underneath option, with the open question being how much target volume would survive with Dell, Klein and a promoted Higgins competing for it. Sunday the volume survived — eight targets, second on the team — and the catches did not follow it, four of eight for 35. That is one afternoon, and two of the four incompletions came on third and 20 and on second and 12 from his own two. Houston is home to the Bengals on Sunday the twentieth. Watch whether eight targets holds when the catch rate is this low.
_Data via nflverse._
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