This Sunday’s primetime matchup features the Minnesota Vikings traveling to Colorado to take on the Denver Broncos. And while a few weeks ago we were dreading this matchup, I’m actually looking forward to it now. Josh Dobbs and the Vikings get Justin Jefferson back this week and the Broncos have won 3 in a row, but all I really care about is who’s going to score. On Monday Night Football, I correctly picked Dalton Kincaid at +200 and Courtland Sutton at +240, and then on Thursday Night Football, I easily cashed Gus Edwards at +105.
So, can I keep my primetime luck going on Sunday? Here are my favorite touchdown scorer bets for each team for Sunday Night Football.
Minnesota Vikings touchdown scorer best bet: T.J. Hockenson (+295)
On this past Monday Night Football, I backed Dalton Kincaid to score a touchdown against the Broncos at +200 odds. And not only did the tight end score, but Kincaid also had 5 catches for 51 yards. I wasn’t surprised in the slightest to see Kincaid find holes in Denver’s defense because the Broncos are the worst defense in the NFL against tight ends. Through 10 weeks of the season, the Broncos allow the most receiving yards (68.89) and the 6th most receptions (6.11) per game to tight ends. Opposing offenses have also noticed the trend and have exploited that weakness a lot in recent weeks. Besides Kincaid, here are some other notable tight ends who have had success against the Broncos: Travis Kelce has 15 catches for 182 yards and 1 touchdown in 2 games, Cole Kmet had 7 catches for 85 yards and 2 touchdowns in Week 4 and Tyler Conklin had 4 catches for 67 yards in Week 5. See the theme?
And did I mention that T.J. Hockenson is Josh Dobb’s favorite target? In Week 9, when Dobbs replaced Jaren Hall, he targeted Hockenson 11 times for 7 catches and 69 yards (all led the team). Then, in Week 10, Dobbs targeted Hockenson 15 times for 11 catches and 134 yards with a touchdown (once again, all led team). It’s clear that Dobbs likes to find Hockenson in the open field and a lot in the red zone. However, the reason Hockenson is at this excellent price is because Justin Jefferson is returning this week. Jefferson will more than likely take some targets away from Hockenson, but the reason I still see value with Hockenson is because Jefferson will be matched up with Patrick Surtain II all night. On Monday Night Football, Surtain II limited Stefon Diggs to just 3 catches for 34 yards. At +250, Hockenson is worth every penny.
Check out our Minnesota Vikings vs Denver Broncos predictions
Denver Broncos touchdown scorer best bet: Courtland Sutton (+185)
Back to the well! On Monday night, I backed Courtland Sutton to find the end zone at +240 odds, and he toe-tapped his way for the score. If you didn’t see the touchdown, I’d recommend watching it because Sutton’s body control while falling out of bounds was spectacular. Anyway, the reason I picked Sutton to score was because he had found the end zone in 3 straight games before that and in 6 of Denver’s 8 games. With his score on Monday Night Football, Sutton has now scored in 7 of Denver’s 9 games (77.8%) this season. But Sutton didn’t just score on Monday night – he shredded the Buffalo defense. Sutton finished with 8 catches for 53 yards and was catching the eye of Russell Wilson on every drive. The receiver has a tough matchup in Week 11 against a vast-improved Minnesota defense, but that same defense looked vulnerable in Week 10.
In Week 10, the Vikings defense allowed Jameis Winston to throw for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns. Both Chris Olave and A.T. Perry found the end zone, which gives me confidence that Sutton can, too. Plus, the Vikings also have to worry about Jerry Jeudy, so it’s not like Sutton will command all the attention from the defense. Between Sutton’s increase in targets and Russell Wilson’s improvement in the last few weeks, I like the duo to connect on a score in yet another primetime matchup with the Broncos involved.
