Javonte Williams — Week 2: Twenty-Five Yards Became Two
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Williams carried 12 times for 30 yards with no first downs and no touchdown, and caught 3 of 4 targets for 20 yards. His 25-yard run with 7:23 left was cut to a two-yard gain by a holding penalty, his first-and-goal carry from the three went nowhere, and his three carries inside the twenty gained two yards, in a 37–20 win over the Commanders.
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30 to 20, Cowboys, seven 23 left in the fourth quarter, first and 10 at the Dallas 29. Javonte Williams ran right end for 25 yards to the Washington 46, and a holding penalty on George Pickens, enforced from the Dallas 31, turned it into a two-yard carry and first and 18. −1.0 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position. His longest run that counted, through two games, is nine.
The line: 12 carries, 30 yards, no touchdown, no first downs, four of the 12 successful, −3.7 expected points on the carries; four targets, three catches, 20 yards, +0.2 on the targets. The carries went nothing, two, nothing, five, nothing, −1, seven, two, the two that had been 25, nine, nothing, four. Five before halftime for seven yards, seven after for 23. Three carries inside the Washington 20 gained two, nothing and nothing; the middle one was first and goal at the three with 10 42 left in the first quarter, stopped by Javon Kinlaw, and CeeDee Lamb caught the touchdown on the next snap. On second and one at the Washington 29 with five 17 left he was stopped for no gain, and the third and one went to Hunter Luepke, who converted. The catches were eight on the first snap of the game, six and six; the incompletion was second and 10 at the Washington 11.
The split: Williams 12 of 18 designed runs, Emari Demercado three, and one each for KaVontae Turpin, Luepke and Dak Prescott on a third and one. Six designed runs before halftime, five of them his, and 12 after, against 20 13 pass plays. Dallas ran for 66 yards on 21 rush plays counting three scrambles, −2.9 expected points as a unit, while the passing game was worth +15.1.
Back in June the preview leaned overpriced on Williams — the sixteenth back off the board at pick 34 after a season built on 11 rushing touchdowns, with the scoring rate faded and the role not — and named the goal-line touchdown rate and the receiving role as the things to watch. Week 1 was two touchdowns and five catches, and that episode said the first data point landed above the line. Sunday was the other side: the role held, two-thirds of the designed runs and 12 carries again, while the goal-line carry failed and all four Dallas touchdowns were thrown. 24 carries for 71 yards through two games is under three yards a carry. The role is the preview's floor and it is intact; the efficiency under it has not shown up yet, and two games settle little. Dallas plays the Ravens on Sunday the 20-seventh at Maracana Stadium, a neutral site where the Cowboys are the listed home team.
_Data via nflverse._
When Javonte Williams's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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