George Kittle — Week 2: Four Targets, All After Halftime
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Kittle caught all 4 of his targets for 80 yards and a touchdown, every one of them after halftime: 40 yards on the first snap of the third quarter, the 12-yard touchdown three plays later, 2, and 26. His 80 yards led both teams, a week after all five of his targets came before halftime, in a 35–13 win over the Dolphins.
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The full episode, in writing
14 to six, 49ers, the first snap of the second half, first and 10 at the San Francisco 35. Brock Purdy threw deep middle to George Kittle, 17 yards in the air, and Kittle took it to the Miami 25, 40 yards. +2.6 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 3.2 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. Three plays later, first and 10 at the 12 with 13 13 left in the third: short left, 12 yards, touchdown, +1.7. 21 to six after the kick, and the drive took under two minutes.
The line: four targets, four catches, 80 yards, one touchdown, three first downs, +5.8 expected points on the targets. After the 40 and the 12 came two yards on second and five at the Miami eight, on the drive that ended in Kyle Juszczyk's touchdown, and 26 over the deep middle on second and six from the San Francisco 16 with 44 seconds left in the third. 50 air yards, 30 after the catch. 80 yards was the most by any receiver on either team. He was not thrown to before halftime, when Purdy threw eight times. He also had a false start that turned third and six into third and 11 in the third quarter; Deebo Samuel converted it.
Four targets tied him with Samuel and Christian McCaffrey for the team lead on 22 throws. Mike Evans and Demarcus Robinson had three each.
This is the reverse of his first game. Week 1 was five targets, all in the first 18 minutes, two catches for 12 yards and an interception on a throw meant for him, −5.6 expected points, and then nothing — and the episode said the number to watch was second-half targets. Sunday it was four, and they were all of his targets. Back in June the preview's read was that a top-three tight end by per-game production was priced too cheaply, and that nobody could price a repaired Achilles tendon in his tenth season. Two games, nine targets, six catches, 92 yards, one touchdown, and 23 yards after the catch on the 40-yarder. The role has shown up in opposite halves of two games, which says the first week was a night and not a pattern; nine targets are not enough to say more. San Francisco is home to the Cardinals on Sunday the 20-seventh.
_Data via nflverse._
When George Kittle's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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