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First Touchdown Scorer Predictions for Monday Night Football Week 3

Rodrigo Villagomez

Last Updated: September 23, 2024 1:18 PM EDT • 2 min 58 sec read.

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook runs with the ball against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half as we look at the First Touchdown Scorer Predictions for Monday Night Football.
Buffalo Bills running back James Cook runs with the ball against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half. Photo by Gregory Fisher/Imagn Images

This week we get to enjoy not one, but two Monday Night Football games. That means you get two chances to predict who will score the first touchdown in each game, one of which involves a leading contender in the Super Bowl odds.

Our first touchdown scorer predictions for Monday Night Football take on a pair of matchups and complement Esten McLaren's anytime touchdown scorer predictions.

First, the undefeated Buffalo Bills host the surprisingly winless Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags opened with the second-best odds to win the AFC South, but they're another loss away from joining the Tennessee Titans as the worst team in the division. They're the +5.5 underdogs in the Monday Night Football odds.

The second game of the night pits the struggling Cincinnati Bengals against a scrappy Washington Commanders team that could be tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East with a win on Monday Night.

First touchdown scorer predictions Monday Night Football: Week 3

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Bills first touchdown scorer prediction: James Cook, RB ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Best odds: +600 via FanDuel | Implied probability: 14.29%

James Cook scored three out of the four touchdowns for the Bills last week against the Miami Dolphins. More importantly, he scored the first touchdown of that game.

The third-year back out of Georgia has accounted for 50% of his teams’ total carries this year and 44% of running back targets. He stands to get plenty of action against a Jacksonville defense that allowed over 100 yards to the running back position last week against the Cleveland Browns.

All of our best sports betting sites are favoring Josh Allen to score the first touchdown against the Jaguars. Our player props tool shows that FanDuel is posting the Buffalo quarterback as low as +430, while bet365 is featuring him at +550 to cross the goal line first. 

I took the bait last week and agreed with the books on an Allen first touchdown, even with my finger hovering over the button for Cook. I'm not making that mistake again this week.

However, Brenden Schaeffer thinks Cook will be contained yardage-wise in his Jaguars vs. Bills MNF parlay. And Mike Spector is looking to the opposing backfield for a touchdown in his Jaguars vs. Bills prediction.

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Bengals first touchdown scorer prediction: Andrei Iosivas, WR ⭐⭐⭐

Best odds: +1900 via FanDuel | Implied probability: 5.00%

Cincinnati has only scored three touchdowns this season. Andrei Iosivas is responsible for 67% of those scores, snagging two last week in a loss against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The former Princeton Tiger is the Bengals’ third-most targeted pass-catcher. He's second on the team with two red-zone targets behind only Trenton Irwin, who's been given five.

Washington has failed to register the first touchdown in either of its first two games this season. In fact, the New York Giants held them out of the end zone completely last week. 

The Commanders' defense is allowing opponents to score on 75% of their trips to the red zone, which is the league's fifth-worst average. 

FanDuel is by far the most generous here, where a $10 wager will net you $190 in profit. That same bet with Caesars' +1000 odds brings you back only $100.

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Written By:
Rodrigo Villagomez
Rod has been a contributing author at Sportsbook Review for the last two years specializing in NASCAR and NFL prop betting. He has been writing and podcasting professionally for almost 20 years, spending the last four years in the sports gambling space. Rod has made several appearances on the SiriusXM Fantasy Sports channel. He’s appeared multiple times on the Fantasy Alarm Show with Howard Bender as well as several times over the last two years during the FSGA Draft Week. He is a published author in the academic world with an article on steroids in baseball featured in the Bedford Reader textbook. Rod loves to find non-traditional bets which has led him to dive into the world of defensive and kicking props in football among others. His love of motorsports has translated into several winning weeks of both NASCAR and Formula 1 bets. Rod is a fan first and aims to provide betting picks that are not only profitable but will provide the maximum entertainment value during the sweat. Ultimately, he tries to remember that watching sports should still be fun and anything else is icing on the cake.