The best NFL Thanksgiving anytime TD scorer bets, including a return to pay dirt for... Ezekiel Elliott?

Our Thanksgiving slate of football begins with the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions this year, which seemed like a perfect game to get our holiday touchdown betting off to a great start. Until you see the odds.

Detroit’s running backs are always a great starting place, especially this week against a reeling Bears run defense, but at -200 odds for David Montgomery and -190 for Jahmyr Gibbs at BetMGM, it’s clear oddsmakers aren’t interested in giving away free money.

Suddenly, this game became a lot tougher to pick. But if we’re going to roll with a long-shot, we’re going to roll with a LONG-SHOT.

Odds via BetMGM

Bears at Lions: Tim Patrick (+450)

Amon-Ra St. Brown isn’t a terrible option at -115, but he’s banged up coming into this game, and he’ll no doubt be the focus of Chicago’s secondary. Jameson Williams will also get attention for his ability to take the top off the defense. That leaves Patrick as the potential forgotten man in Detroit’s passing attack, and those have been the type of players to kill Chicago lately. Jalen Nailor, Ja’Lynn Polk and Noah Brown have all recently scored on the Bears.

Giants at Cowboys: Ezekiel Elliott (+375)

Elliott has mostly been phased out Dallas’ offense, receiving just four carries over the last two games. But in a short week after Rico Dowdle carried the ball 19 times — his second-most all season — I expect Elliott to be a little more involved. And if Dallas gets close to the goal line, it’ll be hard for them to deny the veteran a chance to deliver some nostalgia to fans who remember his contributions to some memorable Thanksgiving games over the years. He scored in each of his last two Thanksgiving games with Dallas, including his last in 2022 against the Giants. Oh, and the Giants gave up four rushing touchdowns to the Bucs last week.

Dolphins at Packers: Tucker Kraft (+200)

The tight ends feel like a good play in a game between teams that not only allowed touchdowns to opposing tight ends in their last games but also threw touchdowns to their own tight ends in those games. I particularly like Kraft, because I don’t expect Green Bay’s passing offense to struggle in cold weather the way I do Miami’s. Also, Kraft leads all Packers receivers with six touchdowns on the season.