Needless to say, this isn’t quite the game Netflix was anticipating when it announced it’s Christmas Day slate of games several months ago. The Chiefs have been eliminated from the playoffs for the first time in over a decade and, on top of that, Patrick Mahomes (knee) is injured. Heck, even Gardner Minshew (knee) is injured. This Kansas City roster is almost unrecognizable aside from Travis Kelce.
Still, it’s football. Christmas dinner will be long over and most of your relatives will have packed up and left. You might as well settle in and watch the Broncos try and wrap up the AFC West. You also might as well take a stab at a first touchdown scorer bet. Let’s review the odds on the DraftKings Sportsbook and make a couple picks for this holiday conclusion to Thursday Night Football in 2025.
Broncos at Chiefs First Touchdown Scorer Prop Bets
Courtland Sutton First Touchdown Scorer (+550)
There’s simply not a lot of value of the Broncos’ side of this market, as the Chiefs’ players are being priced like they’re employed by a team that lost it’s All-Pro QB and was held without a touchdown in Week 16 — which, for the record, is an apt description. All that said, if you’re going to back a Denver skill-position asset, Courtland Sutton feels like your guy. For the season as a whole, Sutton actually trails Troy Franklin (+750) for the team lead in red zone targets, but many of Franklin’s opportunities near the goal line came early in 2025. In fact, across the team’s past five contests, Sutton has racked up nine targets inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, while Franklin’s seen only two. It’s a span of time where Sutton has also hauled in three touchdowns. Again, this is no where close to a “long shot” bet, yet Sutton has a great chance to score this game’s first touchdown if his high-leverage usage is anything like we’ve seen over the past month.
Kareem Hunt First Touchdown Scorer (+2200)
Kareem Hunt only logged 11 snaps last week against the Titans. In those snaps, the veteran RB carried the ball three times for two total yards. So, I’m not going to sit here and act surprised that Hunt’s odds are this long. However, this is where the fact that this is a first touchdown scorer article is so important to understand. Hunt was scripted out of last Sunday’s loss to Tennessee, but you can not be scripted out of a game where a touchdown has not been scored yet. Maybe the Broncos gift the Chiefs a short field early in the first quarter. Maybe Kansas City returns the opening kickoff deep into Denver territory. There are ways that the Chiefs get close to the goal line to begin this tilt, and in such a scenario, Hunt is the guy that is going to see the football. Hunt has garnered 13 of Kansas City’s 18 rushing attempts inside the five-yard line in 2025, and four of the other five were taken by players currently injured — Patrick Mahomes (knee) and Rashee Rice (concussion). There’s a reason Hunt leads the team with nine touchdowns this season, after all. He’s worth a shot.
