Mike Evans — Week 3: Three Catches, Then Out
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 28
Evans caught 3 of 6 targets for 34 yards and a 23-yard touchdown, and his 2-yard catch on third and twelve was lateraled to Deebo Samuel for an 80-yard touchdown. All six targets came before halftime; he was ruled out with a rib injury, per CBS Sports, in a 36–30 win over the Cardinals.
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Seven to nothing, 49ers, the first snap of the second quarter, first and 10 at the Arizona 23. Brock Purdy threw deep right to Mike Evans, 23 yards in the air, touchdown. +2.5 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 2.7 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. 14 to nothing after the kick. His first catch had started the scoring: third and 12 at the San Francisco 18 with eight 40 left in the first quarter, scoreless, Purdy short left to Evans at the 20 for two, and a lateral to Deebo Samuel, who went 80 yards for the touchdown. That play was worth +7.7 and 20.1 points of win probability, the largest figures of the game on both measures, nearly all of it Samuel's run, and it counts on Evans's targets.
The line: six targets, three catches, 34 yards, one touchdown, three first downs, +9.5 expected points on the targets, 7.7 of it from the lateral play. 80 air yards. The third catch was nine yards on third and four from the San Francisco 38 with two minutes left in the half, converted, with Budda Baker credited on the tackle. Two of the next three throws came to him: incomplete short left on first and 10 at the San Francisco 47, and incomplete short middle on third and 10, and the play-by-play notes he was injured on that last one. San Francisco punted. CBS Sports reported that he was ruled out with a rib injury. His first target, first and 15 from the 15 on the opening drive, was also incomplete. Three third-down targets, two caught, both converted.
Six of Purdy's 17 first-half throws went to Evans; he had no targets after halftime. George Kittle finished with seven, Christian McCaffrey five.
Back in June the preview called Evans a clean profile set against two things — his age, and a new system with a new quarterback — after an injury year ended a run of thousand-yard seasons, and injuries had cost him half of last season. Week 1 was seven targets and five third-down catches; Week 2 was three for three and 54 yards. Sunday he scored and helped score, and then left. Three games: 16 targets, 12 catches, a hundred 37 yards, two touchdowns. The system question has read well in all three; the one the preview could not answer is back on the table, and the play-by-play cannot say how long. San Francisco is home to the Broncos on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Mike Evans's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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