Cleveland Browns Vs. Houston Texans NFL First Touchdown Picks (1/13/24)

Get Cleveland Browns vs. Houston Texans first touchdown picks & odds for the (1/13/24) matchup

Cleveland Browns vs. Houston Texans First Touchdown Search Tool

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Cleveland Browns vs. Houston Texans First Touchdown Picks

NFL Wild Card Weekend is kicking off with a fascinating AFC matchup between the Browns and Texans. In this article, find some options for first touchdown scorer bets in the game. Be sure to use the player prop search tool above to get the best odds for whichever prop you select. Odds can vary significantly at different sportsbooks, especially in the touchdown markets. Check out the Lineups YouTube page for more player prop content. Let’s get to work.

Jerome Ford First Touchdown Scorer (+900 DraftKings)

The Browns are listed as 2 or 2.5-point road favorites in this game, and — if you buy into that line — it makes sense for Cleveland to be the team that strikes first in the touchdown department. Jerome Ford’s odds can be found as low as +650 on FanDuel at the time of writing and as high as +900 on DraftKings.

Jerome Ford was tied for the team lead with nine touchdowns this season, and he scored three touchdowns across Week 16 and 17 before the Browns rested most of their starters in Week 18. Running on the Texans isn’t easy, as I’ll discuss in a moment, but Ford leads the team at running back with 24 red zone touches.

David Njoku First Touchdown Scorer (+1100 Bet365)

Jerome Ford, Amari Cooper, and Kareem Hunt are all listed ahead of David Njoku in this game, but I like the value on Njoku here. I selected his over on receiving yards as one of my favorite player props in this game, as well. Fading Ford and Hunt makes some sense as the Texans rank first in run defense success rate this season.

Meanwhile, the Texans rank 23rd in pass defense DVOA, and throwing on their secondary has been much easier to do. Houston will likely key in on Amari Cooper after he set the franchise record with 265 receiving yards against them earlier this season. Njoku is in a great spot to capitalize on this as the Texans have allowed the fifth-most receiving yards per game to tight ends.

Nico Collins First Touchdown Scorer (+850 FanDuel)

If I’m rocking with a Texans player in this game, the one that stands out to me is Nico Collins. Of course, Collins cashed this prop last week with an absurd 75-yard touchdown catch on Houston’s first play of the game. The Browns won’t have the same type of coverage bust that the Colts did on that play last week, but it might not matter with how good Collins has been.

Collins has scored in four of his last seven games with C.J. Stroud active, and he could get a real boost in this game with the Browns’ top cornerback Denzel Ward not fully healthy. Ward’s status is very much worth monitoring on Saturday leading up to kickoff.

C.J. Stroud First Touchdown Scorer (+2500 Bet365)

Looking for a real longshot in this market? Of course you are. C.J. Stroud only has two rushing touchdowns all season, but there’s reason to expect him to pick up more rushing volume this week. Stroud had three rushing attempts for 20 yards last week in a playoff-esque game, in in a real playoff game here, expect him to take a few more risks.

Stroud is facing a Browns defense that ranks seventh in pressure rate, and I expect defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to send some exotic blitzes at him to keep him off base. The Texans have been fairly inefficient at running the ball this season, but if they do want to run the ball around the goalline, perhaps they add in some wrinkles with Stroud’s legs.

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