INDIANAPOLIS -- Alec Pierce is simultaneously the NFL's leader in yards per reception and fourth on his own team in pass targets. He's enjoying the highest catch percentage of his career, yet he wasn't thrown a pass until late in the fourth quarter of his team's most recent game.
Given these contradictions and the trajectory of his season, should the Indianapolis Colts be doing more to get Pierce the football?
That question came up during Indianapolis' loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
"I was actually feeling bad," said quarterback Joe Flacco, who started Sunday's game. "It's like, 'We've got to start getting him involved in these games. How can we do that?'"
The Colts eventually did. Pierce caught three passes for 134 yards and a touchdown in the final minutes against Jacksonville. His first target, a 24-yard reception, came with 5:09 remaining. Pierce caught a 45-yard pass on the very next play, which put the ball at the 1-yard line and set up a Trey Sermon touchdown run. Pierce added a 65-yard catch-and-run touchdown on the ensuing possession, with 2:50 remaining.
But it all proved too little, too late. The Colts' defense couldn't hold, and Indianapolis lost 37-34 on a field goal in the final minute.
Despite the outcome, Pierce has made good on his promise to prove his value this season. In the wake of the Colts' selection of former Texas receiver Adonai Mitchell in the second round of the draft, Pierce was put on the defensive as there was new competition for the team's No. 3 receiver spot.
Pierce not only won the position battle, he also redefined himself after two seasons of fending off doubts about his ability. Pierce is now averaging an NFL-high 28.3 yards per catch. No NFL receiver in the past 15 seasons has produced more yards per catch through five weeks.
Now, when defenses game plan for the Colts, they're necessarily accounting for Pierce on the scouting report.
"I'm sure when they go over the defense, they're going to say, '[Number] 14, keep him in front of you,'" Pierce said. "They don't want to [let you] make a big play. That's kind of the reputation I'm getting."
That makes Pierce's stat line all the more bizarre. The robust production -- 368 yards on 13 catches -- and sporadic opportunities don't seem to align. Pierce even joked that it reminded him of his junior year in high school, when he said he had 10 catches for more than 400 yards in an injury-shortened season.
But there are some factors that help explain what's happening.
Pierce is considered the deep threat in the Colts' system, and as such, is the third option behind Michael Pittman Jr. and slot receiver Josh Downs. Pittman and Downs are asked to run a greater variety of routes, making them more frequent targets. Pierce's routes are often used to clear out defenders for Downs and Pittman to work the middle of the field.
"I'm able to lift coverages, open it up for other guys," Pierce said. "Whatever it takes to win."
There's also the fact that defenses are wary of the Colts' explosiveness this season and are adjusting. When starting quarterback Anthony Richardson is healthy, he is leading the NFL with 12.0 air yards per attempt, and the Colts faced coverages featuring two deep safeties on 50% of quarterback dropbacks this season -- fifth-most in the NFL according to Next Gen Stats.
Those coverages serve as a deterrence to taking the kind of deep shots Pierce excels at. And that isn't about to change. The Colts visit the Tennessee Titans on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), a team that deployed split safeties on 60.7% of dropbacks in its last game, a Week 4 win over the Miami Dolphins.
"A lot of times, when you hit these big plays, you've got to get the right coverage," coach Shane Steichen said.
More mystifying is the fact that Pierce has fewer targets than Mitchell, who has yet to make a consistent impact this season. Mitchell has 20 targets in five games, more than Pierce's 17. And Mitchell has a shockingly low catch percentage of 30% (six catches on 20 targets) -- worst among all Colts skill players. Pierce, meanwhile, has a catch percentage of 76.5%.
Granted, the players' skills sets are very different. Pierce possesses more straight-line speed while Mitchell has short-area explosiveness the Colts are trying to take advantage of.
But is it justifiable that Pierce has surpassed three targets in a single game just once this season?
"Everyone's got to get their touches," Steichen said. "So, that's something we look through every week and we'll keep looking at that, for sure."
For his part, Pierce said he'll continue to look for opportunities to expand his game. That's critical as opponents are watching and could devote more resources to preventing his explosive plays.
"[He has to] show them that I continue to run the routes," Pierce said. "Show them I can do other things, because the deep ball is not always going to be there."