Kenneth Gainwell — Week 2: Four Targets, All Before Halftime
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Gainwell carried twice for 10 yards, both first downs, and caught three of four targets for five yards, with every carry and target coming before halftime. Four of his five touches from scrimmage came in the last two minutes of the half, on a drive that ended in a field goal. He also returned three kickoffs for 78 yards, in a 23–19 loss to the Browns.
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Six to six, a minute 56 left in the half, third and two at the Cleveland 26, no huddle. Kenneth Gainwell took it off right tackle for four yards and the first down, +0.8 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position. That started the busiest 90 seconds of his day. He caught a pass for five on first and 10 from the 22, ran around left end for six and another first down on second and five from the 17, and then caught one for −2 on first and 10 from the 11 with 34 seconds left. Two incompletions later Tampa Bay kicked a 31-yard field goal and led nine to six.
The line: two carries, 10 yards, both first downs, +1.2 expected points on the ground. Four targets, three catches, five yards, −2.7 on the targets. The catches went two, five and −2, and all three were thrown behind the line of scrimmage. The incompletion was the costly one: third and four at the Cleveland 27 with four oh nine left in the first quarter, short middle, −1.7, and a 45-yard field goal instead of a first down. He had no carry and no target after halftime. He did return three kickoffs, 24, 24 30 yards; Kameron Johnson returned Cleveland's last two.
Where he sat: Bucky Irving had 17 carries and four targets, Gainwell two and four. In Week 1 it was five carries and one target. On third down he had one target, incomplete, and one carry, converted.
Back in June the preview's read was that a 73-catch career year in Pittsburgh would shrink to a third-down, pass-catching role behind Irving. Week 1 shrank it to one target, and the thing to watch was whether the passing-down targets existed at all. Sunday they did: four, as many as Irving. They produced five yards. Sean Tucker was active this week, per Bailey Adams at Pewter Report, and does not appear in the play-by-play, so nothing went to a third back. Two games settle little about a role this small. Tampa Bay is home to the Vikings on Sunday the 20-seventh.
_Data via nflverse._
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