Phil Agius
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Roll up folks and watch two of the worst teams in the NFL trying to score a touchdown in primetime. This matchup of the 1-7 Panthers and the 2-7 Bears should really have been buried in the middle of a 10-game 1:00 pm Sunday slate, where no one but the fans of the competing teams would have to watch. But it’s here now, live on Thursday Night Football and we’ll just have to deal with it.
Luckily, our TD scorer picks have been red hot for the last couple of weeks and I have cashed with Tyson Bagent at +550 odds, Sam LaPorta at +200 odds and Diontae Johnson at +220 odds in my last 3 TD scorer articles, so let’s try to keep the good news coming on Thursday Night Football in the first game of NFL Week 10.
Be sure to also check out our full Panthers vs Bears predictions, but now let’s take a look at my favorite anytime touchdown scorer picks for Thursday Night Football.
DJ Moore, WR, CHI (+250, Caesars)
Good luck to anyone betting the Bears TD scorers in this game. It’s not 100% certain that QB Justin Fields will return, although it seems likely, and the team’s running back depth chart is also in flux. Tight end Cole Kmet is not the worst option given that he has found the end zone 5 times in his last 5 games and has been targeted by whoever has been at QB for the Bears, but the odds of reward are not huge for a tight end.
Instead, I’m looking for a revenge game from former Panther DJ Moore, who was sent to Carolina in the trade that enabled the Panthers to select QB Bryce Young with the first overall pick. Moore has not scored in his last 4 games, but his 3rd, 4th and 5th scores of the season came against the Commanders on Thursday Night Football, so clearly he has no problem focusing for a midweek matchup. Moore has not matched the 230 yards he had against Washington in the 4 games since combined, but he’s a key player for the team, has huge motivation and could be getting his starting QB back, so Caesars’ standout offer of +250 looks worth taking. FanDuel is next best of the major sportsbooks at +170.
Adam Thielen, WR, CAR (+200 at DraftKings)
The Panthers are finding that their rebuilding process may take longer than they hoped, but one of the few bright spots for the team has been the performance of veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen, who has shown he is far from washed after making way for the younger stars now in the Vikings’ WR room. Thielen retains a knack for getting open in the end zone and is the team’s top TD scorer this season with 4, ahead of DJ Chark with 3 — the team’s RBs have just 3 between them.
Thielen is far from a bit-part player in Carolina and has been targeted an average of 9.5 times per game this season, with double-digit targets in 4 of the last 6 games. He has gone 2 games without a score, while the Panthers’ offense as a whole has struggled, but should be at the forefront of their effort if they are to bounce back on Thursday.
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