Steelers vs. Browns Best Anytime TD Scorer Picks for Thursday Night Football (All Systems Go for Chubb and Hunt)
By Peter Dewey
What’s better than picking a player to score a touchdown and it actually coming to fruition?
Other than also having that player on your fantasy team, I can’t think of a much better feeling when it comes to betting on the NFL.
Thursday Night Football brings us an AFC North battle for the ages between two 1-1 teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns.
Both teams are fresh off of losses in Week 2, but on a short week they are looking to make a leap in the standings. If you’re looking to find someone who will score in this game, look no further, as I have three players I think that are valuable bets to get in the end zone in Week 3’s Thursday night matchup.
Best Anytime Touchdown Scorer Picks for Steelers vs. Browns
- Diontae Johnson (+230)
- Kareem Hunt (+165)
- Nick Chubb (-115)
Diontae Johnson (+230)
Pittsburgh has just two offensive touchdowns through the first two weeks of the season, so backing anyone to score here is a bit risky.
That being said, I’m a fan of looking at opportunity, and there is nobody on the Steelers that has seen more through the air than Diontae Johnson. Johnson has 22 targets already this season, five more than tight end Pat Freiermuth and 10 more than No. 2 receiver Chase Claypool.
Mitch Trubisky is hard to trust to move the ball down the field, but the more looks Johnson gets, the better a chance he has to score. At +230, the risk is worth the reward for me here.
Kareem Hunt (+165)
The Cleveland Browns have been rolling on the ground early in the season, and I expect that to remain the formula as long as Jacoby Brissett is the team’s starting quarterback.
Hunt, who scored two touchdowns in Week 1, failed to get in the end zone last week, but there’s a ton of value on him at +165. His fellow running back, Nick Chubb, is -115 to score, but the Browns have split the red zone touches between the two backs this season.
Hunt has seven red zone looks to Chubb’s eight, and both running backs are in the top five for red zone touches this season. Hunt has touched the ball 15 times in each of the first two games, so I love him to get back in the end zone on Thursday night.
Nick Chubb (-115)
This is a square play, no question, but if Hunt somehow doesn’t find the end zone, it’s a pretty good bet that Chubb will.
So, why not take both?
Chubb scored three touchdowns in Week 2, after Hunt won the red zone work and scored twice in Week 1.
The bright side? Both players are top-five in red zone touches as I mentioned earlier. So, if Chubb gets a series in the red zone and Hunt gets one, there’s a chance both could score in this game.
Considering Jacoby Brissett has thrown two scores and one was to Hunt, the running backs are the guys to back for Cleveland.
Find Peter Dewey’s full betting record here.