Rome Odunze — Week 3: Six Targets, Four on Third Down
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Wednesday, Sep 30
Odunze caught 3 of 6 targets for 44 yards and two first downs, on 87 air yards with nothing after the catch: a 22-yard catch deep right and a 15-yarder on third and 10 that converted, both on the field-goal drive that made it 10–0. Four of his six targets came on third down and three were incomplete, including third and 3 from the Philadelphia 3, in a 27–7 win over the Eagles.
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Seven to nothing, Bears, four 24 left in the second quarter, third and 10 at the Philadelphia 33. Case Keenum threw short middle to Rome Odunze, 15 yards in the air, and Odunze was brought down at the 18, 15 yards and the first down. +2.0 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 4.5 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. Three snaps earlier on the same drive he had caught 22 deep right, pushed out at the Philadelphia 33, +1.5. The drive ended in a 29-yard field goal and a 10 to nothing lead.
The line: six targets, three catches, 44 yards, two first downs, 87 air yards and nothing after the catch, −1.3 expected points on the targets. The catches went 22, 15 seven. The seven was second and eight at the Philadelphia 17 with nine 53 left in the fourth quarter, short left to the 10, on the drive Keenum finished from the one; on the next snap Odunze was flagged for a false start. Four of his six targets came on third down, and the 15 was the only one caught. The other three: third and six at midfield with two oh eight left in the first quarter, deep right, 30 yards in the air, incomplete, and Chicago punted; third and three at the Philadelphia three with 14 oh eight left in the half, short right, incomplete, the snap before Luther Burden's fourth-down incompletion from the same spot; and third and five at the Philadelphia 30 with 10 26 left in the third, short left, incomplete, −5.1 points of win probability, the third-largest loss on any Bears pass or run all night, which brought on a 48-yard field goal. Four targets before halftime, two after. An offensive pass interference call on him in the third quarter was declined.
Six targets were third on the Bears, behind Burden's 11 and Kalif Raymond's seven, ahead of Colston Loveland's four. 44 yards were third behind Raymond's 90 and Burden's 61. Keenum threw all 34 Chicago passes, with Caleb Williams out with a hamstring strain suffered in the Week Two loss to the Vikings, per the Bears' team site.
Back in June the preview's read on Odunze was a breakout setup: the top receiver job in Chicago after DJ Moore was traded, with his target share as the whole case and the number to watch, and two cautions — a touchdown share that was due to come down and volume that had only been seven and a half a game. Week One was three targets. Week Two was four. Monday was six, third on the team. Three games: 13 targets, eight catches, a hundred 39 yards, no touchdowns, four and a third targets a game — below last year's rate, in an offense whose leading target has been Raymond once and Burden twice. Three games, one of them with the starter throwing every pass, settle little; the top receiver job has not shown up in the target counts yet. Chicago hosts the Jets on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
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