Ja'Marr Chase — Week 3: Twelve Targets, Nine Catches
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 28
Chase caught 9 of 12 targets for 98 yards, a 3-yard touchdown and 6 first downs, and all three of his third- and fourth-down targets moved the chains, including 21 yards on fourth and two in the third quarter and 13 on third and eight with 58 seconds left. Burrow was sacked and fumbled on the next snap, in a 30–27 loss to the Steelers.
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30 to 27, Steelers, 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter, third and eight at the Cincinnati 49, no huddle. Joe Burrow threw short right to Ja'Marr Chase, who ran out of bounds at the Pittsburgh 38 after 13 yards. +1.4 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 18.1 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it, the second-largest gain on any pass or run in the game. On the next snap Burrow was sacked at the Pittsburgh 46, the ball came out, and the Steelers recovered and knelt it out.
The line: 12 targets, nine catches, 98 yards, one touchdown, six first downs, +9.3 expected points on his targets. The catches went nine, seven, three, 12, seven, nine, 21, 17 13. The three was the touchdown: first and goal at the Pittsburgh three, five 54 left in the first quarter, Steelers up seven to nothing, short right, and the extra point tied it. The seven before it had taken the ball to the eight. The 21 was fourth and two at the Pittsburgh 42 with 10 11 left in the third, tied at 17, deep right, pushed out at the 21 — +4.2 expected points and 16.6 points of win probability — on the drive that ended in Evan McPherson's field goal for a 20 to 17 lead. The 17 started the last drive, from the Cincinnati 30 with two oh eight left. Three of his targets came on third or fourth down, and all three were caught for first downs; the one not yet mentioned was seven yards on third and three in the second quarter. The three incompletions: deep right on first and 10 in the second quarter, short right on second and 10 at midfield late in the third, and short left on first and 10 from the Cincinnati 41 with eight 39 left in a tied game, on a drive that ended in a punt. Seven targets before halftime, five after.
12 targets were 32 percent of Burrow's 37 throws and the most for any player on either team; Tee Higgins had seven, Dohnte Meyers five, Mike Gesicki and Samaje Perine three each. Chase's 98 receiving yards led the game, eight ahead of Higgins, and the two of them accounted for a hundred 88 of Burrow's 282. 99 air yards on the 12 targets, 28 after the catch.
Back in June the preview's case for Chase was volume: a career-high hundred 85 targets last season with Joe Flacco and Jake Browning throwing, in an offense where, as it put it, the target tree has one trunk. Week 1 contradicted it — four targets, fourth on his own team. Week 2 was nine targets and both Cincinnati touchdowns. Sunday was 12, the most in the game. Three games: 25 targets, 18 catches, a hundred 85 yards, three touchdowns, and a share that has gone from 12 percent to 29 to 32. The first week is now the one that looks out of place, though three games settle little. Cincinnati is home to the Jaguars on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
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