Malachi Fields — Week 2: Six Targets, Two Catches, Thirty Yards
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Tuesday, Sep 22
Fields was targeted six times and caught two for 30 yards, and the throws his way traveled 131 yards in the air, the most on the Giants. Three of the six came on third down and none of those was caught; the fourth-and-ten throw to him from the Los Angeles 35 with 6:17 left carried a declined offensive pass interference flag against him, in a 28–6 loss to the Rams.
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Six to 28, six 17 left in the fourth quarter, fourth and 10 at the Los Angeles 35. Jameis Winston threw deep right for Malachi Fields, 24 yards in the air, incomplete, and the Giants turned the ball over on downs. −3.1 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — the second-costliest Giants play of the night by that measure. There was a flag on it, offensive pass interference on Fields, and Los Angeles declined it.
The line: six targets, two catches, 30 yards, two first downs, −5.1 expected points on the targets. Both catches were first downs — 14 yards short left from Jaxson Dart on first and 10 in the first quarter, and 16 yards short left from Winston on first and 10 with eight 10 left in the game. The four incompletions were mostly long: a deep middle on third and nine at the top of the second quarter, 43 yards in the air; a deep middle on third and 10 with 14 52 left in the fourth from the New York five, 38 in the air; a short middle on third and 10; and the fourth-down deep right. Three third-down targets, none caught, none converted. Two targets before halftime, four after. The throws to him carried a hundred 31 yards in the air and produced 30 yards of offense, six of them after the catch. He also made the tackle on a punt return in the second quarter.
Six targets were second on the team behind Isaiah Likely's 10, and 19 percent of the 32 Giants throws. Theo Johnson, Cam Skattebo and Malik Nabers had four each, Darnell Mooney three, Devin Singletary one. Only Mooney's targets came out positive by expected points; Fields at −5.1 was second-worst on the team to Nabers.
Back in June the preview made no call on Fields: three draft picks to move up for him in April, a price of the 80-first receiver in July drafts, and an explicit refusal to convert a minicamp catch into a September stat line. Week One was four targets, two catches, 25 yards, and both deep throws incomplete. Week Two was six targets, two catches, 30 yards, and three of the four incompletions traveled at least 24 yards in the air. So the role is real and growing — 10 targets in two games, more air yards than any Giant — and the connection on the deep ball has not happened yet. New York is home to the Titans on Sunday the 20-seventh.
_Data via nflverse._
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