Rome Odunze — Week 2: Twenty-One Yards From Bagent
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Odunze caught 3 of 4 targets for 43 yards and two first downs, with a 21-yard catch from Tyson Bagent to the Minnesota 20 with 38 seconds left and a 15-yarder from Caleb Williams on the drive that ended in a blocked field goal. Four targets were fourth on the Bears, in a 9–3 loss to the Vikings.
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Nine to three, Vikings, 38 seconds left, second and 10 at the Minnesota 41, one snap after a spike. Tyson Bagent, in for the injured Caleb Williams, threw deep right and Rome Odunze caught it 21 yards downfield, pushed out at the Minnesota 20. +1.8 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 14.6 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it, second among all pass and run plays in the game to D'Andre Swift's 32-yard catch. Chicago got to the 12. The last three snaps from there were an incompletion, an incompletion and a sack.
The line: four targets, three catches, 43 yards, two first downs, +1.6 expected points on his targets, 47 air yards and two after the catch. In order: third and eight at the Chicago 14 with 14 18 left in the second quarter, tied at three, short left, incomplete, and a punt; seven yards short middle on first and 10 from the Chicago 34 with 20 seconds left in the half; 15 yards on first and 10 at the Minnesota 32 with 10 53 left in the fourth, down six to three, to the 17, on the snap after Swift's 32-yarder; and the 21. Two targets before halftime, two after. One more throw carries his name and does not count: third and 12 late in the first quarter, deep left, incomplete, wiped out by a defensive offside. A delay of game put Chicago back at third and 12, Williams threw the interception to Byron Murphy, and it was Odunze who pushed Murphy out of bounds at the Minnesota 35.
Four targets were fourth on the team, behind seven to Luther Burden and five each to Swift and Kalif Raymond. Three came from Williams and one from Bagent. His 43 yards were second on the Bears to Swift's 54.
Back in June the preview called Odunze a breakout the market was already buying: in line for the top receiver job after DJ Moore was traded, with his target share as the entire bull case and the number to watch. Week 1 was three targets, all before halftime, one of them a 47-yard catch. This week was four. Seven targets in two games, tied for third on the team in one and fourth in the other, is not the share of a top receiver. It is also two games, one in which Chicago ran 39 times and one in which the starting quarterback left in the fourth quarter. Chicago is home to the Eagles on Monday the 20-eighth.
_Data via nflverse._
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