Best anytime touchdown bets for Lions vs. Cowboys in Week 6

Jalen Tolbert is an emerging Cowboys wide receiver who is a solid bet to score this week.

Fresh off their bye week, the Detroit Lions (3-1) travel to Dallas this week to take on the Cowboys (3-2) in a game that could have important playoff implications later this season. Betting odds have the Lions as the favorites at -3 against the spread, and the total is set at 52.5 points. That is the highest over/under on the Week 6 schedule, which means there should be plenty of touchdowns scored in this game and therefore several intriguing ways to bet on touchdown scorers. 

In this article, we’ll dive into our favorite anytime touchdown prop bets in this Lions vs. Cowboys matchup. Each pick discussed below includes the best odds at the time of publication from across all of the best online sportsbooks. Of course, these odds are always subject to change, so it’s worth shopping for the best odds before placing any of these bets. 

Jalen Tolbert (+270, FanDuel)

With Brandin Cooks out with an injury last week, Jalen Tolbert had the best game of his career, setting new career highs in targets (10), receptions (7), and receiving yards (87). The talented 3rd-year receiver is starting to emerge as a true No. 2 receiver behind CeeDee Lamb and he has a chance to get a stranglehold on that role while Cooks is on IR. 

Tolbert already has as many touchdowns this season (2) as he had in his first two seasons combined, and with 33 yards in this game, he will surpass his yardage totals from his first two seasons as well. The South Alabama product is leading the Cowboys with five red zone targets so far this season – yes, even more than CeeDee Lamb, who has three. Tolbert is also tied for the team lead in touchdowns, yet there are four Cowboys with shorter odds to score a touchdown this week (Lamb, Rico Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott, and Jake Ferguson). 

This matchup also should dictate a very pass-heavy game script that provides Tolbert with plenty of scoring opportunities. Not only does the high over/under indicate plenty of offensive expectations, but most of that is likely to come through the air for Dallas. The Lions are allowing the fourth-fewest rushing yards per game (90.8) but they are allowing the sixth-most passing yards per game (258.3). The Cowboys are also gaining the second-most passing yards per game (271.6) and the second-fewest rushing yards per game (82.0). 

Barring a drastic change in all of those trends, this should be another big day for Dak Prescott through the air, and much of that production will be going to Tolbert. With those expectations, getting +270 odds at FanDuel for Tolbert to reach the endzone is an excellent bet. Those odds are also much better than the odds at other sportsbooks; for example, Tolbert’s TD odds at DraftKings are as low as +195, which makes placing this bet at FanDuel already a solid value. 

CeeDee Lamb (+101, Caesars)

Just because there’s a great argument for Tolbert as the best anytime TD bet in this game doesn’t mean Lamb isn’t also worth a great value. Tolbert may be the Cowboys wide receiver who is emerging, but Lamb is still firmly the alpha dog in this offense. Getting any TD scorer odds on Lamb at even money or better is generally a good bet, and right now Caesars is the only sportsbook that offers those odds. 

Of course, all the same points above about the Cowboys’ pass-heavy offense in this matchup also apply to Lamb, perhaps even more so given his gargantuan role in the offense. Lamb may not be the target monster he was last season (10.7 per game), but he is still 11th in the league and getting 8.2 per game. We can expect that average to go up after this game, and with that kind of volume and Lamb’s otherwordly talent, getting even money odds on him scoring a touchdown is a solid value.

If this kind of thing excites you, Lamb is also following a pattern this season of scoring touchdowns in every other game. He scored in Week 2 and Week 4, so if the trend continues he is a lock to score again this week. Oddly enough, he also has between 90-99 yards in each game when he scored, and between 60-69 yards in the games when he didn’t score. To be clear, we are not purporting this to be a strong argument for this bet, but some bettors like quirky patterns like this, so this one is for them.

Sam LaPorta (+250, bet365)

The two Lions who are by far the most likely to score a touchdown in this game are David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. They are tied for the team lead with four touchdowns each, and the Cowboys have arguably the worst run defense in the NFL. The trick is that both of those talented running backs are priced at less than even money, and picking the right one is a crapshoot (not that both could not potentially cash). Between the two, Gibbs mainly has slightly better odds, but there is better value on other Lions players to score.

Sam LaPorta has not scored a touchdown yet this season. The second-year tight end is off to a slow start after his torrid rookie season when he reached paydirt 10 times. There is no good explanation for why he is averaging less than half the targets per game this season compared to last year (3.5 vs. 7.1). But he had his best game of the season before the bye week, and he is too talented to be held in check like that every week. 

LaPorta’s early season struggles are the main reason his odds of scoring a TD this week are as high as +250. He was regularly in the range of +150 for most of last season, and he is priced at +145 for this game at DraftKings. Of course, you can’t just ignore the recent (lack of) production, but you can bet on the talent eventually prevailing and try to take advantage of these odds while they are available. Compared to the other Lions options, LaPorta is the most attractive anytime TD bet.