Emily Castle

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Seven receivers have had a 100-yard first half this season. Only one has three.

Ten games, seven names, two repeat offenders. And only Zay Flowers has done it three times, the third with his backup quarterback throwing to him.

Emily Castle · October 26, 2026

Seven receivers have had 100 or more receiving yards in the first half of a game this season. Not 100 for the game. 100 before halftime.

Here is every one of them, through Week 7.

Receiver Team Week Opponent First-half yards Final line
Zay Flowers Ravens 1 at Colts 150 5 rec, 150 yds, 1 TD
Christian Watson Packers 1 at Vikings 131 6 rec, 147 yds, 2 TD
Davante Adams Rams 2 vs. Giants 145 8 rec, 195 yds, 2 TD
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Seahawks 2 at Cardinals 108 9 rec, 155 yds, 3 TD
Zay Flowers Ravens 4 vs. Titans 119 8 rec, 118 yds, 1 TD
Tetairoa McMillan Panthers 4 vs. Lions 147 14 rec, 192 yds, 2 TD
Luther Burden III Bears 7 vs. Patriots 130 4 rec, 130 yds, 1 TD
KC Concepcion Browns 7 at Titans 125+ 8 rec, 129 yds
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Seahawks 7 vs. Chiefs 129 9 rec, 150 yds, 1 TD
Zay Flowers Ravens 7 vs. Bengals 100+ 8 rec, 137 yds, 1 TD

Ten games. Seven names.

Only two have done it more than once

Of those seven, only two have multiple 100-yard first halves this season: Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Zay Flowers.

Smith-Njigba has two. He went for 108 before the break in Arizona in Week 2 (an 82-yard touchdown on Seattle’s second play, then three more catches in the second quarter) and 129 against the Chiefs on Sunday night, which was the most he’s ever had in a half.

Flowers has three.

Only one has done it three times

Zay Flowers is the only receiver in the NFL with three 100-yard first halves this season.

The Ravens paid him handsomely this summer. Almost every season before this one was called his breakout. This one is on a whole other level.

Week 1 in Indianapolis: 150 yards and a touchdown before halftime, on five catches, and he didn’t play the second half because of a hamstring. Week 4 against Tennessee: 119 yards and a touchdown in the first half, before Lamar Jackson’s ankle took him out of the game at the break. Week 7 against Cincinnati: over 100 again before halftime.

The backup-quarterback part

Here’s what makes the Huntley half rarer than it looks. Nobody rewrote the offense for the backup. Most of what Huntley threw Zay was the short stuff. Zay did the rest, because he’s special like that. He’s twitchy. He runs like that. He’s a playmaker, and a playmaker turns a safe throw into a chunk.

From the digging I could do on Stathead, Zay Flowers and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are the only two I could find in the modern era to post a 100-yard first half with a backup quarterback under center. Smith-Njigba did it in Week 2 with Drew Lock starting for Sam Darnold: 108 yards before the break in Arizona. Flowers did it in Week 7 with Tyler Huntley starting for Lamar.

Notably, both of these happened within the first seven weeks of this season.

And Zay stands out in this category on both ends. He has the most 100-yard first halves in the league with three, and he has the single biggest first half of any receiver this year: 150 in Week 1 in Indianapolis. The way he opened the season, in the first half of the first game, has yet to be beaten by any receiver in the NFL. Unfortunately, he went down with a hamstring injury and did not play the second half. But who’s to say what kind of day he was headed for?

Needless to say, Lamar is once again anticipated to return in Week 8 against the Buffalo Bills. Ja’Kobi Lane is back from the wrist injury he suffered in the opener. Zay will be in. If Lamar is healthy and playing, having all three on the field, hopefully for an entire game, could get the Ravens’ season back on track. A statement win in Buffalo would be the perfect momentum shifter for a team that desperately needs a jolt.

Sources

Regular season only, through Week 7 (games of Oct. 22–25, 2026). First-half figures are from halftime reports and play-by-play; where no exact halftime number was published, the table shows the confirmed floor (100+, 125+).

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