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The Kansas City Chiefs have one of the most unpredictable offenses the NFL has ever seen, but bets on which players on their roster will score touchdowns in Sunday’s Super Bowl 55 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are bound to be popular. Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill will likely be the most common choices for sports bettors, but I think Patrick Mahomes should receive some string consideration. DraftKings Sportsbook has boosted the odds for any Mahomes rushing or receiving touchdown from +600 to +655. I like his chances to find the end zone.
Mahomes’ odds to score the first touchdown of Super Bowl 54 were +2000, and he came through with a first-quarter rushing score against the San Francisco 49ers. He entered last year’s Super Bowl as Kansas City’s leading rusher in the playoffs, and his mobility ended up being a major factor. Tampa Bay is just as fearsome up front now as San Francisco was then, and Mahomes seems bound to be on the run with Eric Fisher out for the game. Andy Reid has never been scared of taking risks, and I doubt Mahomes’ bum toe will make him think twice about using his quarterback’s legs.
The Chiefs put up a respectable 87 rushing yards against the Bucs earlier this season, in a year in which the Bucs gave up the fewest rushing yards per game (80.6) during the regular season. Mahomes was second to only Clyde Edwards-Helaire in rushing yards (28) despite only logging four attempts. The scrambles and designed runs will be there, but the possibility of a receiving touchdown — a’la the Philly Special — just seems like wishful thinking at this point. Focus on a rushing score.
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