Tyjae Spears — Week 2: Twenty-Seven on Third and Twenty-Two
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 21
Spears ran 27 yards on third and 22 with 2:44 left in a tie game, the largest Titans play of the day by expected points and by win probability, and had a 27-yard catch that set up a field goal before halftime. He finished with 7 carries for 41 yards and 2 catches for 29; his other six carries gained 14, in a 24–20 loss to the Eagles.
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17 to 17, two 44 left in the fourth quarter, third and 22 at the Philadelphia 36, shotgun. Tennessee handed the ball to Tyjae Spears, and he went around left end for 27 yards before he was pushed out at the nine. +3.2 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 18.6 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. Both were the largest figures on any Titans play, and only Philadelphia's winning touchdown and its first-quarter interception moved win probability more in either direction. What followed took most of it back: a nine-yard sack on first and goal, three yards from Tony Pollard, one yard from Spears on third and 15, and a field goal.
The line: seven carries, 41 yards, one first down, three of the seven successful, +1.2 expected points on the carries; two targets, two catches, 29 yards, +1.5 on the targets. Nine touches for 70 yards, after five for 24 in Week 1. The carries went one, eight, four, three, −3, 27 one, so the other six gained 14. Three for 13 before halftime, four for 28 after. The catches were two yards and 27, and the 27 was the other big one: first and 10 at the Philadelphia 45, 56 seconds left in the half, down 14 to seven, no huddle, a throw caught a yard behind the line and carried to the Philadelphia 18. +1.8 expected points, and Joey Slye kicked a field goal as the half ended. Both of his third-down carries came on that last drive, needing 22 15. His four-yard run in the second quarter was followed by a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Calvin Ridley, and that drive ended in a punt.
The split: 27 designed runs, Pollard 14, Spears seven, Nicholas Singleton four, Cam Ward two. Two targets tied him with Gunnar Helm and Ridley for third on the team behind Carnell Tate's five and Elic Ayomanor's three.
Back in June the preview put Spears on the watchlist — the fiftieth running back off the board at pick one 56, a head coach on record calling him one of two bell cows, nine missed games in two seasons, and a 90-percent catch rate as the reason not to fade him. Week 1 was three carries to Pollard's seven in a blowout, and that episode said the number to watch was touches before the fourth quarter. Sunday five of his nine touches came before the fourth quarter, and the carries were seven to Pollard's 14. That is the same one-to-two ratio, give or take, in a close game and in a lopsided one. Half the backfield it is not. The biggest play Tennessee's backs made on Sunday was his. Tennessee is at the Giants on Sunday the 20-seventh.
_Data via nflverse._
When Tyjae Spears's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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