Terry McLaurin — Week 3: Six Catches and the Fourth-and-One
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 28
McLaurin led Washington with 9 targets and caught 6 for 77 yards, five first downs and a 30-yard touchdown that made it 24–10 in the third quarter, his first of the season. His 5-yard catch on fourth and one at the Seattle 39, tied at 24, was the largest win-probability gain on any Washington pass or run, on the drive that ended in the go-ahead field goal, in a 33–31 win over the Seahawks.
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24 all, eight 40 left in the fourth quarter, fourth and one at the Seattle 39. Marcus Mariota threw short left to Terry McLaurin for five yards and the first down. +2.2 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 10.8 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it, the largest gain on any Washington pass or run. He had been the target on the two third downs before it on that drive: third and 13, incomplete, with a roughness penalty on Seattle that gave Washington 15 yards and a first down, and third and eight, seven yards to set up the fourth and one. The drive ended in a 36-yard field goal and a 27 to 24 lead.
The line: nine targets, six catches, 77 yards, one touchdown, five first downs, +5.2 expected points on the targets, the most on Washington, and a hundred 10 air yards. The touchdown was second and eight at the Seattle 30 with 10 50 left in the third, up 17 to 10, deep left for 30 yards, +3.3, the largest figure on any offensive snap of the game by either team. It came three plays after Washington intercepted Sam Darnold. The other catches: 11 on third and 10 on Washington's third possession, converted; six on second and four in the second quarter; 18 deep left with 52 seconds left in the half, before Washington's 57-yard field goal; the seven and the five. The misses: a deep ball in the third quarter; a 20-yard catch on third and five that Seattle challenged and had reversed to an incompletion, followed by a punt; and third and 14 near midfield. Three targets before halftime, six after. Four on third down, two caught, one converted.
Nine of Mariota's 30 throws that had a receiver, 30 percent, ahead of Stefon Diggs's seven and Antonio Williams's four. His 77 yards led Washington.
Back in June the preview put McLaurin on the watchlist: a 23 percent target share coming off a 10-game season, with a healthy Jayden Daniels as the bounce case and age and a regressed touchdown rate as the drags. Week 1 was four targets for 14 yards. Week 2 was nine targets, a touchdown reversed on review, and Daniels leaving with an elbow injury. Daniels was inactive Sunday with that elbow injury, per SI. Through three games McLaurin has 22 of 93 targeted throws, 24 percent, a hundred 41 yards, and now the touchdown. The share is where the preview drew it, with the quarterback it was drawn for out. Three games settle little. Washington faces the Colts in London on Sunday the fourth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Terry McLaurin's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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