It’s always nice when prime-time games are possible Super Bowl previews. Last night’s Sunday Night Football stinker wasn’t — the New York Giants aren’t sniffing the Super Bowl this season, and the Kansas City Chiefs don’t exactly look stellar either — but it’s easy to see a world in which the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions both get there. The Lions (+700) have the fourth-shortest odds to win the NFC, while the Ravens (+250) have the second-shortest odds of breaking Kansas City’s stranglehold on the AFC.
Baltimore is a 4.5-point favorite for tonight’s game, which kicks off at M&T Bank Stadium at 8:15 p.m. ET. The Ravens are -225 on the Moneyline, and Detroit is +185. The point total is set to 53.5, the highest total of the week. The two teams rank first and fourth in points per game so far this season.
DraftKings is celebrating the marquee contest by running a King of the End Zone promotion with $2 million in prizes. If you place a singles bet on a touchdown-scorer market and opt in to the contest, that bet becomes eligible for the promotion. That player would then need to score the longest touchdown of the day in order for you to be paid a share of the $2 million in bonus bets.
Sometimes, the best answer is the most obvious one; after all, you won’t receive any prize if your selected player doesn’t score. In this article, I’ll break down Baltimore running back Derrick Henry’s chances of scoring the longest touchdown of the game.
King of the End Zone — What You Need to Know
The two images below break down everything you need to know about the King of the End Zone contest:
The promotion is fairly simple: as long as you opt in and place a Singles bet with a stake of at least $5 on a TD Scorer prop bet from your cash or DK Dollars balance prior to the scheduled kickoff time and don’t cash it out, your bet is eligible to receive a share of the prize pool. Passing touchdowns will not count; if you choose Lamar Jackson or Jared Goff, he’ll need to run it in himself. Either team’s D/ST, though not an individual player, is eligible to become the King of the End Zone.
King of the End Zone Preview & Picks | Ravens vs. Lions on Monday 9/22/25
Players with shortest odds to score a TD:
- Derrick Henry (-205)
- Jahmyr Gibbs (-120)
- Zay Flowers (+105)
- Amon-Ra St. Brown (+120)
- David Montgomery (+130)
- Lamar Jackson (+185)
Analysis: Can Derrick Henry be King of the End Zone?
Henry is never a terrible bet to score the longest touchdown of the game: he’s big, fast, and great at breaking tackles, and he’ll likely be inducted into the Hall of Fame as soon as he’s eligible. He’s also somehow still in his prime at age 31 despite his punishing play style and despite taking 2,098 carries in his career, the most of any active player. Henry broke away for a 46-yard score in the second half of the Ravens’ 41-40 Week 1 defeat to the Buffalo Bills, which was the longest touchdown of the game. The 21.07 miles per hour that Henry reached on that run was the fourth-fastest speed registered by a ball-carrier in Week 1.
However, he was slowed down in Week 2 by the Cleveland Browns, turning his 11 carries into just 23 yards, which tied for his lowest carry total since joining Baltimore and marked his least efficient game. It was a long shot — the Ravens’ defense — that scored the game’s longest touchdown, when Roquan Smith returned Joe Flacco’s fumble 63 yards. It was a quiet day for Baltimore’s running game as a whole, as Jackson chose to do most of the damage with his arm.
He should have an easier time tonight than he did in Week 2; through three games, the Browns have had the league’s highest-graded run defense, per Pro Football Focus, while the Lions rank just 15th. Detroit avoided allowing any explosive plays on the ground in Week 1, allowing a 15-yard run to Josh Jacobs, but it did allow a 20-yard run to the Chicago Bears’ D’Andre Swift in Week 2. The last time Henry played the Lions on December 20, 2020, he had a 33-yard run, but that’s not particularly informative: only one player from Detroit’s starting 11 that game is even still in the league.
The Lions do rank first in tackling, nullifying one of Henry’s biggest advantages. Henry led the league with 19 20-plus-yard plays, 909 yards after contact, and 42 broken tackles in 2024, while Detroit recorded the sixth-fewest missed tackles and the seventh-fewest 20-plus-yard runs. The Lions have missed just two tackles so far this season.
Still, Henry is somewhat inevitable, scoring the game’s longest touchdown four times last season, including several against solid rushing defenses. The Dallas Cowboys had the second-worst rushing defense grades but missed the seventh-fewest tackles, the Buffalo Bills had the league’s eighth-worst grades but missed the 13th-fewest tackles, the Pittsburgh Steelers had the 11th-best grades and missed the fewest tackles, and Cleveland had the best grades and missed the 15th-fewest tackles.
Plus, three of his four touchdowns that were the longest score of the game came on runs to the left, which could keep him away from Detroit’s best outside run defender, Terrion Arnold. Several of the Lions’ other best run-stoppers, including middle linebacker Jack Campbell and cornerback D.J. Reed, are questionable for tonight’s contest, and Marcus Davenport is set to miss the game.
Verdict
Derrick Henry to be King of the End Zone for Ravens vs. Bills? – Yes.
While there should be plenty of touchdowns in such an offense-friendly game and there are lots of compelling options — among them his Ravens teammate DeAndre Hopkins, who’s scored two of the team’s four longest offensive scores this season, and Detroit deep threat Jameson Williams — Henry is the greatest running back of his generation for a reason. No opposing running back strikes more fear into the hearts of opponents, and the Lions simply haven’t been good enough against the run for me to pick against him.
