Josh Downs — Week 3: Eleven Targets, Five Catches
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 28
Downs led the Colts with 11 targets and caught 5 for 77 yards and four first downs, including 24 yards on third and nine that set up the first points of the game. All three of Jones's throws that traveled 20 or more yards went to him and none was caught; the third was intercepted at the Houston 1, in a 19–17 win over the Texans.
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Nothing to nothing, seven 37 left in the first quarter, third and nine at the Indianapolis 48. The snap before, Daniel Jones had thrown deep right for Josh Downs and missed. This time he went short right, 14 yards in the air, and Downs took it 24 yards to the Houston 28. +3.0 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 10.5 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. No Colts play all day was worth more expected points. The drive ended in Spencer Shrader's 39-yard field goal, the first points of the game.
The other third-down throw his way went the other direction. Third and four at the Houston 28, 11 40 left in the third quarter, Colts up 13 to seven: deep left for Downs, 27 yards in the air, intercepted by Blankenship at the Houston one. −2.8 expected points and −6.5 points of win probability. Houston went three snaps and punted.
The line: 11 targets, five catches, 77 yards, no touchdown, four first downs, +1.5 expected points on the targets. A hundred 72 air yards, the most of his career in a game, and more than twice the 71 on Keenan Allen's targets, the next most on the Colts. The first four catches were all first downs: the 24; 18 deep middle on second and 10 from the Indianapolis 31, one snap after another deep miss; 18 short right on second and seven to the Houston 19; and 12 short middle on second and nine to the six, three snaps before Allen's six-yard touchdown. The last was five yards on second and 13 in the fourth quarter, on the drive that ended in a field goal. Six targets were not caught. Jones threw three passes that traveled 20 or more yards in the air, all three to Downs, and none was caught; the third was the interception. Eight targets came before halftime, three after.
11 targets were 31 percent of the 35 Colts throws with a receiver, the most on the team for the second straight week, ahead of Tyler Warren's 10 and Allen's nine. Alec Pierce was on injured reserve with a heel injury, per Sports Illustrated.
Back in June the preview made no call on Downs: a quarter of the Colts' targets two seasons ago, under 18 percent last year, and which version of the role came back was a coaching decision the show could not call. Week 1 was two conversions on the opening drive and then 22 Jones passes without a target. Week 2 was nine targets, the team lead, and all four third downs thrown his way converted. Sunday was 11 and the team lead again, with the third-down ledger split between a conversion and an interception. Three games: 24 targets, 14 catches, a hundred 86 yards. The bigger version of the role has shown up two weeks running, both with Pierce out of the lineup for most or all of it, so whether it holds with the room full is still untested. Indianapolis faces the Commanders in London on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Josh Downs's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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