Michael Wilson — Week 3: Seventeen Targets, Eleven Catches
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 28
Wilson was thrown to 17 times, the most by anyone in the game, and caught 11 for 89 yards, a touchdown and seven first downs, including both of Arizona's fourth-down completions. His 5-yard touchdown on second and five from the San Francisco 5 with 3:07 left in the third made it 23–12, in a 36–30 loss to the 49ers.
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23 to six, 49ers, three oh seven left in the third quarter, second and five at the San Francisco five. Jacoby Brissett threw short right to Michael Wilson, who caught it a yard behind the line and scored. +1.8 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and six points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. The kick made it 23 to 13. Wilson had kept that drive alive: fourth and two at the San Francisco 26 with six 20 left, five yards to the 21, +2.3, the second fourth-down conversion he caught on the day.
The line: 17 targets, 11 catches, 89 yards, one touchdown, seven first downs, +5.9 expected points on the targets, and a hundred 62 air yards, the most on the team. The catches went five, five, seven, 17, 11, six, five, five, six, four and 18. The first fourth down was fourth and one at the San Francisco 16 with five oh seven left in the first half, seven yards to the nine; Arizona kicked a field goal. In the last 90 seconds of the half he caught 17 deep right and 11 on back-to-back snaps, from the Arizona 32 to the San Francisco 40, and the drive ended in the second field goal. The 18 came with 57 seconds left in the game, down 36 to 27, deep right to the San Francisco 31, and set up the 49-yard field goal. Six targets fell incomplete, among them a 36-yard shot on the first drive and three in the red zone. Five of his targets came inside the San Francisco 20, one of them the touchdown. Nine targets before halftime, eight after; three on third down, two caught, one converted. A six-yard catch in the second quarter came back on a penalty against Arizona.
17 targets were 34 percent of the 50 Brissett throws with a receiver; Trey McBride had 11, Marvin Harrison and Jeremiyah Love five each. It is one short of the 18 he drew against these same 49ers last season, the most of his career.
Back in June the preview leaned toward Wilson — the twentieth receiver per game a year ago on a hundred 26 targets — and named two things to watch: the share with a healthy Harrison in the room, and the quarterback play. Week 1 was seven targets for 56 yards; Week 2 was seven for 18, on a day the team threw for 95. Sunday was more targets than the first two games combined. Three games: 31 targets, 18 catches, a hundred 63 yards, one touchdown, to Harrison's nine targets. The share the preview asked about is showing; Sunday's catches were short ones, 5.2 yards a target. Three games settle little. Arizona is at the Giants on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
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