Khalil Shakir — Week 2: Six Targets, Both Third Downs Incomplete
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Friday, Sep 18
Shakir caught three of six targets for 38 yards, with catches of nine, 13 and 16; the two third-down throws to him, on third and five before halftime and third and eight in the fourth, both fell incomplete and both drives ended in punts. He recovered Detroit's onside kick with 1:42 left, in a 41–31 win over the Lions.
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34 to 24, Bills, eight 37 left in the fourth, third and eight at midfield. Josh Allen threw short right for Khalil Shakir, incomplete, and Buffalo punted for the second time all night. −1.4 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and −1.6 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. It was the second third-down throw to him, and the second that did not connect; the first, third and five with 49 seconds left in the half, also ended a drive in a punt. Buffalo converted nine of 11 third downs, and the two misses were both throws to Shakir.
The line: six targets, three catches, 38 yards, two first downs, +0.5 expected points on his targets. 73 air yards, second on the team, 19 after the catch. The catches: nine on the first snap of the game, 13 to the Detroit 25 on the opening drive, and 16 on second and 12 in the fourth, on the drive that ended in James Cook's touchdown. The incompletions: deep down the middle on first and 10 in the first quarter, 45 air yards, and the two third downs. A fourth incompletion, deep right with a minute-oh-three left in the half, came back on a defensive offside call. Four targets before halftime, two after. His last touch was Detroit's onside kick with a minute 42 left, which he recovered at the Detroit 47 and returned 11 yards to the 36.
Six targets tied him with Keon Coleman for second on the team behind Dalton Kincaid's eight. Coleman caught all six of his for 63, Joshua Palmer had 43 on one catch, and Shakir's 38 were next. DJ Moore left in the second quarter without a target.
Back in June the preview's question on Shakir was whether a 30-eighth-place season among wide receivers had rested on a repeatable target share or a quieter efficiency spike. Two weeks, six targets each. That is the share half answered the same way twice. The efficiency half went three catches, two of them on the first drive, and the two third-down misses. Two games is not a season, and a night the team's top receiver left early is not the cleanest read on the share. Buffalo is home to the Chargers on Sunday the 20-seventh.
_Data via nflverse._
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