Ricky Dimon
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Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas Chiefs will be making an amazing sixth straight appearance in the AFC Championship on Sunday afternoon. Standing in their way of another trip to the Super Bowl is the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore finds itself on this stage for the first time since it won the Super Bowl in the 2012 season.
The Pickswise team has been on fire with their touchdown scorer prop picks throughout this NFL season, so let’s keep the momentum going! Here are my best TD scorer bets for Sunday, and also be sure to check out our full Chiefs vs Ravens predictions.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, WR, KC (+750 at DraftKings)
I think at least 1 longshot has a great chance to score a touchdown for Kansas City on Sunday, and Valdes-Scantling may be just the guy to capitalize. Travis Kelce stepped up against Buffalo in the divisional round, but Baltimore – and safety Kyle Hamilton specifically – is very good at defending tight ends. Wide receiver Kadarius Toney is out. Justin Martin has pretty much evaporated from the Chiefs’ offense in recent weeks. Fellow WR Mecole Hardman has fumble-itis and can no longer be trusted – especially in the red zone. Someone has to pick up the slack for the passing game, so who not Valdes-Scantling? MVS has been extremely effective in the playoffs throughout his career. In 2022 he scored in each of the 2 AFC playoff games en route to the Super Bowl and produced 116 yards in the conference title game against Cincinnati. In the 2020 NFC Championship with Green Bay he had 115 yards and a touchdown during a loss to Tampa Bay. Last weekend Valdes-Scantling was targeted 4 times and made 2 catches of 30+ yards. It was his second-highest yardage total of the 2023 campaign. Mahomes will undoubtedly have faith in MVP as a key target in the passing game this weekend.
Zay Flowers, WR, BAL (+200 at FanDuel)
Tight end Mark Andrews is back for the Ravens, but that might actually help Flowers – especially in the red zone. You know Kansas City’s defense will be watching Andrews like a hawk around the goal line. That factor aside, you have to like Flowers’ chances to score a touchdown simply on his own merit. The rookie out of Boston College found the endzone in 4 of the last 5 regular-season games. During that stretch he delivered a 10-6-yard performance and twice he got double-digit targets. Although Flowers failed to put any points on the board last weekend against Houston, he still had a decent day with 4 catches on 5 targets for 41 yards. Keep in mind that the Ravens dominated, so they mostly kept the ball on the ground in the second half. They may not have that luxury against the Chiefs. It’s also worth noting that in the regular season Kansas City allowed almost twice as many TDs through the air as on the ground (19 to 10).
