Best anytime touchdown scorer today for Ravens vs. Bengals

Target Bengals pass catchers like Tee Higgins in this potentially high-scoring matchup.

One of the best games on the Week 5 NFL schedule is an AFC North clash between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals. It’s no exaggeration to call this a must-win game for both teams, as both the Ravens (2-2) and the Bengals (1-3) have gotten off to slow starts this season. The Ravens are the betting favorites at -2.5 against the spread while the over/under is set at 49.5 total points.

Both teams are coming off much-needed wins last week when the Ravens dominated the Bills on Sunday Night Football while the Bengals got their first win of the season against the Panthers. Baltimore has certainly been the more impressive team so far this season and they are currently the favorites to win the division. However, things could change quickly if the Bengals can find a way to win this game.

There is no shortage of star power at the skill positions in this matchup, but stars are only sometimes the best values when it comes to anytime touchdown prop bets. Let’s dig into the best anytime touchdown bets for Ravens vs. Bengals this week The betting odds listed below were the best odds across all of the best online sportsbooks at the time of publication, but the odds are always subject to change.

Tee Higgins (+210, bet365)

We like the anytime touchdown bets on both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this week, but we especially like betting on Higgins because of the +210 odds at bet365 Sportsbook. For comparison, Higgins has odds as low as +165 at DraftKings, so you are already getting some value just by getting those much more favorable odds. Also, Ja’Marr Chase’s best odds are priced at +135 at Caesars Sportsbook, but Higgins is at least as likely if not more likely to score a touchdown as Chase is this week.

Let’s start by breaking down why we’re high on all the Bengals’ pass catchers this week. Baltimore has the best run defense in the league by a considerable margin and a comparatively much weaker pass defense. They are allowing just 57.8 rushing yards per game, which is 17.2 yards lower than the No. 2 rushing defense (Minnesota). Part of the reason for that is that they are facing the fewest rushing attempts against them, but they are also leading the league with just 3.0 yards per carry allowed (Pittsburgh is second at 3.7). 

That stifling run defense is going to funnel offenses like the Bengals to be much more pass-heavy when they face the Ravens. Baltimore is 29th in the league in passing defense (257.5 yards per game allowed), and if you think that’s purely a volume stat, they are also just 21st on a per-play basis (6.4 net yards allowed per pass attempt). By more advanced metrics, they are 1st in success rate and 6th in EPA per play allowed against the run, and just 16th and 21st, respectively, in those same metrics against the pass.

In a game with the second-highest over/under on the Week 5 slate, we expect Joe Burrow to be airing it out early and often in this matchup, which is why we love betting on his pass catchers this week. Since returning from injury in Week 3, Higgins has been Burrow’s favorite target. He has a team-high 16 targets over the last two games (3 more than Chase), including three red zone targets. Increasing Higgins’ touchdown chances is that the Bengals like to throw it in the red zone. Burrow has thrown 26 passes inside the 20 this season and the Bengals have run the ball just 17 times. Even when they get inside the 5-yard line, Burrow has attempted 14 passes compared to just 7 Bengals rushing attempts.

The last time Higgins faced the Ravens, he had eight catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns. You probably should not expect a similar performance this week, but Higgins’ high target share over the last two weeks and the expected pass-heavy Bengals game plan make Higgins a very good bet to score a touchdown in this game.

Erick All Jr. (+650, FanDuel)

Let’s go with a longshot bet that we like for our next pick. Erick All Jr. has been an impressive rookie tight end for the Bengals so far this season. The 2024 4th-round draft pick looks like he could be the next in a recent history of successful tight ends to be drafted out of Iowa, a list that currently includes George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson, and Sam LaPorta. 

All Jr. has steadily been getting more involved in the Bengals’ offense as he gains experience and builds more rapport and trust with Burrow. He has led Bengals tight ends in targets over the last two weeks and has out-snapped starting tight end Mike Gesicki in two of the last three games, including a season-high 60% snap share and 13.3% target share last week. Despite that, Gesicki has just +350 odds to score a touchdown at FanDuel Sportsbook compared to All Jr.’s +650 odds. 

All Jr. is trending up and not only does he get a potential pass-heavy game script as discussed above, but he also gets a nice matchup against a Ravens defense that has allowed the 2nd-most receptions and yards to tight ends so far this season. All Jr. benefits from the plethora of other weapons in the Bengals’ offense that makes him essentially an afterthought for opposing defenses. But that will only last so long. Even Burrow has lower anytime TD odds than All Jr., and he has not rushed for a touchdown since Week 13 of the 2022 season. 

As long as you know you are betting on a longshot, All Jr. makes for a great anytime touchdown bet this week. 

Lamar Jackson (+180, DraftKings)

Let’s look to the other side of this matchup for our final anytime touchdown best bet pick in this game. The obvious choice on the Ravens is Derrick Henry, who is tied for the league lead with six touchdowns in four games. However, Henry’s touchdown scorer odds fall between -225 at bet365 and -175 at BetMGM. Those odds are not worth playing, even for a player as dominant as Henry has been. Lamar Jackson has the second-best odds on the Ravens to cross the goal line in this game, and we like that bet much better.

Jackson is close to passing Michael Vick as the QB with the most all-time rushing yards (he needs 543 more). With all that success on the ground in his career, Jackson has never looked better carrying the rock than he has so far this season. He is averaging a career-high 7.5 yards per carry and is 9th in the league with 77.0 rushing yards per game, just shy of his career high of 80.4 in his first MVP season in 2019. He has also scored rushing touchdowns in back-to-back games – both Ravens wins.

The Ravens are going to need Jackson to be Superman again this week to win this critical and difficult divisional matchup. When Jackson puts the team on his back in close games, that often leads to great numbers on the ground. Rather than throwing darts at a Ravens pass catcher to score a touchdown (none has more than one this season) or taking borderline unplayable odds on Henry, the best bet on the Ravens to score a touchdown this week is their two-time MVP quarterback.