Keaton Mitchell — Week 3: First Career Receiving Touchdown
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 28
Mitchell caught a 1-yard touchdown on third and 1 on the Chargers' first possession, the first receiving touchdown of his career, and had 11 touches: 8 carries for 52 yards, including a 17-yarder, and 3 catches for minus 5. He also returned two kickoffs for 52 yards, in a 24–16 loss to the Bills.
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No score, 10 37 left in the first quarter, third and one at the Buffalo one. Justin Herbert threw short middle to Keaton Mitchell, four yards behind the line, and Mitchell took it in for the touchdown. +1.3 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 4.8 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. The possession had started at the Buffalo 47 after James Cook fumbled on the first snap of the game. It was the first receiving touchdown of Mitchell's career; his three before it, in Baltimore, were all runs.
The line: eight carries, 52 yards, one first down, about even in expected points on the carries; three targets, three catches, −5 yards, one touchdown. The carries went two, seven, −2, 17, nine, three, 11 five. The 17 was first and 10 at the Chargers 32 with five 56 left in the second quarter, around left end and out at the 49. The 11 came on second and 26 after two Chargers penalties, and set up Ladd McConkey's 19-yarder on third and 15. His third-down carry was two yards on third and five at the Buffalo 15 in the first quarter, and a field goal followed. The other two catches were a six-yard loss on second and three in the first quarter and no gain on the first snap after Buffalo's fourth-quarter fumble. Five carries before halftime for 33 yards, three after for 19. He also returned two kickoffs, 28 24 yards.
The split: 26 Chargers designed runs, 15 to Omarion Hampton, eight to Mitchell, two to Herbert and one to Kimani Vidal.
Back in June the preview called Mitchell a watchlist, a coordinator's stated wish, with eight touches a game named as the line between gadget and weapon. Week 1 was four touches, all before halftime. Week 2 was six, and exactly one carry after halftime. Sunday was 11, the first game over the line, with three carries after halftime and a touchdown. That is one game of three, and the carries came in the same shape as before, early and in turns with Hampton. The Chargers are at the Seahawks on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
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