Best Minnesota Vikings vs Detroit Lions touchdown scorer bets: Amon-Ra St. Brown steps up

In what is sure to be the biggest game of the Week 18 NFL slate — especially from a playoff picture perspective — the Minnesota Vikings will travel to Detroit for a date with the Lions in a showdown for the NFC North on Sunday Night Football. Both teams have a chance to  capture the NFC North title and the top seed in the conference, while the loser will be relegated to the #5 seed and a much tougher path to a conference title. The handicap on this game seems to be a solid spot to buy the Vikings given all of the injury uncertainty with Detroit in this game, but that’s not what I’ll be focusing on in this piece.

Be sure to also check out our Vikings vs Lions predictions, but now let’s take a look at my favorite anytime touchdown scorer picks for this primetime game, which includes a pair of wide receivers.

Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, DET (-110 at FanDuel)

In a game that is expected to produce plenty of fireworks, we can expect the Lions to lean on their best players, and that’s exactly what’s happened thus far. Amon-Ra St. Brown racked up 8 catches for over 100 yards and a touchdown in the first meeting between these teams back in October, and he seems well on his way to replicating that effort in this one. It certainly helps matters that St. Brown is going up against a defense that is ranked just 28th in the NFL against the pass (243.6 yards per game), and hasn’t faced an offense of this caliber in well over two months. Jared Goff has repeatedly shown that he handles playing against Brian Flores’ blitz-heavy scheme very well, and a lot of that requires getting the ball out quickly to his security blanket, and letting St. Brown do the rest. Don’t be surprised if St. Brown is targeted at least 10 times on Sunday, which gives his touchdown prop some value at this number. All things considered, the Lions top target should find the end zone at home.

Justin Jefferson, WR, MIN (-110 at FanDuel)

On the other side of the field, another top wide receiver must be wondering what he has to do to earn some of the spotlight in this game. Justin Jefferson is in the midst of another stellar season, and his good rapport with quarterback Sam Darnold has only strengthened with each passing week as we head into the postseason. The former LSU product should be ready to put forth another strong performance against a Lions defense that not only struggles in the secondary — ranking 31st in the league in yards per game allowed — but is also dealing with a rash of injuries on that side of the ball. This is an extremely shorthanded team, which makes it tough to gauge just how well they can cover downfield, especially against an offense of Minnesota’s caliber. Therefore, I’d expect Jefferson to take full advantage of the mismatches he creates on the outside, and find the end zone for a second time against Detroit this season.

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