DK Metcalf — Week 2: Nine Targets, Twenty-Seven Yards
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Metcalf led the Steelers with nine targets and caught four for 27 yards, 25 of them on one fourth-quarter drive with Pittsburgh down 17. A 15-yard catch came back on a holding penalty one snap before the sack-fumble touchdown that made it 20–3. Both third-down targets fell incomplete, in a 20–3 loss to the Patriots.
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13 to three, Patriots, 14 18 left in the fourth quarter, second and 11 at the Pittsburgh 40. Aaron Rodgers threw deep middle to DK Metcalf for 15 yards to the New England 45, and it came back on an offensive holding penalty. Instead of first and 10 in New England territory it was second and 21 from the Pittsburgh 30, and on that snap Christian Barmore sacked Rodgers, the ball came out, and Elijah Ponder ran it back 19 yards for the touchdown that made it 20 to three. −7.4 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — on the snap after the flag.
The line: nine targets, four catches, 27 yards, one first down, −3.2 expected points on the nine. The catches went three, −1, nine and 16. The first two came before halftime and netted two yards. The last two came on the drive that started at the Pittsburgh eight with nine 53 left and the Steelers down 17: nine on first down, then 16 over the middle on second and 10 to the New England 44, his only first down. 25 of his 27 yards came on that drive. He had two third-down targets — third and seven on the opening series, and third and three at the Pittsburgh 44 with two 27 left in the third quarter — and both fell incomplete, each followed by a punt. His final target came from Mason Rudolph on the last series, incomplete.
Nine targets led the team, one more than rookie Germie Bernard's eight, with Roman Wilson at six and Pat Freiermuth at five; Michael Pittman was inactive with a foot injury, per Dave Bryan at Steelers Depot. Three of the nine came before halftime and six after. The shape of the targets changed from the opener. In Week 1 six of his 10 targets were deep and the 10 carried 204 air yards. Sunday the nine carried 62, and only one that counted was labeled deep: 23 yards in the air on first and 10 with 13 31 left in the fourth, incomplete.
Back in June the preview's read on Metcalf was the 20-second-best per-game rate among receivers at the 30-seventh-best price, built on lead-receiver target volume. Week 1 was 10 targets, four catches for 40 yards, and none of six deep balls caught. The volume is there again — 19 targets in two games, the most on the team both weeks — and the production is eight catches for 67 yards. The deep throws went away and the yards did not arrive with the short ones. On third down he has six targets across the two games and no catches. Two games is a small sample, and one of them was a day the whole Pittsburgh passing game lost 21.8 expected points. But the preview's case was volume turning into production, and so far only the volume has shown up. Pittsburgh is home to the Bengals on Sunday the 20-seventh.
_Data via nflverse._
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