Week 4 of the NFL season comes to a close with a juicy Monday Night Football matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints at the Superdome. Both offenses have looked explosive at times this season, and both defenses have given up big plays, so we could be in for a wild night in the Big Easy. DraftKings Sportsbook is set to finish the week by adding some extra fun to the matchup with another King of the End Zone promotion.
This week’s King of the End Zone promo will award a massive $2 million in bonus bets. If you opt in to the token and place a singles bet of at least $5 on a player in a touchdown market and he scores the longest touchdown of the night, you win a share of the $2 million in bonus bets. So far this season, Jaxon Smith-Njigba of the Seahawks, Joshua Palmer of the Bills, and Kalif Raymond of the Bears claimed King of the End Zone honors and earned substantial Bonus Bets for their backers.
Earlier today, I ran down some of my top plays for Week 4’s Monday Night Football version of DraftKings King of the End Zone, and in this post, we’ll take a look at three longshot plays that have a chance to return huge payouts if they end up earning the crown.
King of the End Zone — What You Need to Know
The rules of the promotion are pretty simple. After opting in, bettors will receive a token to place on a singles bet with a $5 minimum in the “TD Scorers” market. If the player with the token scores the longest touchdown of the game, you will win a share of $2 million in bonus bets. The fewer people who have their token on that player, the larger the payout will be, so it’s important to balance out the popularity of the pick with the likelihood of it hitting. Taking a longer shot could land a massive payout, while picking a more obvious choice has a more likely chance of winning, even if the bonus bet payout is smaller.
Passing touchdowns are ineligible for this promotion, so if you want to pick Tyler Shough — for example — he’ll have to run it in himself for the longest score rather than pass for the touchdown. Despite not being an individual player, D/ST is eligible to become King of the End Zone if the longest touchdown comes on a defensive or special teams play.
King of the End Zone Long Shot Picks for Monday, Oct. 5:
When making King of the End Zone picks, it’s important to consider players who are not only likely to score a touchdown but are also likely to score the longest touchdown of the game. In these picks, I’m really looking for an option that could break a long score but will not be a popular play. They don’t have the highest likelihood of hitting, but if they do, the bonus bets payout would be extremely large.
These three picks are my favorite long-shot plays who have the potential to score a long touchdown, and they’re off the radar enough that they should come with lower popularity.
1. Kendre Miller (+265 Anytime Touchdown)
Miller will be part of the Saints’ solution in the backfield with Travie Etienne Jr. (hamstring) landing on the injured reserve. Miller will share time with veteran Alvin Kamara, but Miller has a little more “sizzle” and big play potential, and he could be the better option to break a long touchdown.
He was healthy and inactive in Week 2, but he did find the end zone in Week 1 with an eight-yard touchdown run.
While Kamara may get more snaps and carries, Miller definitely has the potential to be a King of the End Zone sleeper, even though the Falcons have been stout against the run early in the season. If they do slow Kamara down, Miller could get more work, and both backs have been involved as pass-catchers out of the backfield as well, which should keep them in the mix if the Saints have to go pass-heavy playing from behind.
Miller also gets some kick return opportunities, which also are important opportunities for long touchdowns.
2. Falcons DST (+550 Anytime TD)
Turnovers are key in any matchup in the NFL, and they can also be key plays for King of the End Zone, since they can lead to long return touchdowns. On Sunday, the Giants had a 98-yard interception return which was the longest touchdown of the season. As a result of that potential, the DST can be sneaky King of the End Zone plays, since when they do find the end zone, it’s often a touchdown from a long way out.
Both teams have been turnover-prone in their first three games of the season, with the Falcons giving it away eight times and the Saints giving it away seven times. Neither team has returned a touchdown yet, but the Falcons DST is a slightly better option since the Saints are typically aggressive on offense and have also given up multiple sacks in each of their three games this season.
Opposing defenses have 10 sacks, three interceptions and four fumble recoveries against the Saints, including three fumble recoveries in last week’s loss to the Raiders. The Falcons are coming off their best defensive showing of the season as well, holding the Packers to just 14 points and just 17 rushing yards last Thursday in Green Bay. They have two takeaways on the year, but if they can make big plays against the Saints, they have a long shot chance to be the King of the End Zone on Monday.
3. Zachariah Branch (+1100 Anytime TD)
Branch hasn’t quite broken out yet, but he has the big-play ability to score a long touchdown if he gets loose on a deep ball or finds open space. Through his first three NFL games, he only has three catches for 21 yards, but he has gotten multiple targets in each of his last two games, and now that Penix is back under center, Branch could find more room to operate.
Cooper Rush focused mostly on short passes when he was at QB, but Penix is more willing to push the ball down the field, and as he adjusts to NFL speed, Branch comes loaded with big-play potential. He got some buzz in training camp for his upside, and as Penix returns to his rhythm, Branch could find a growing role.
Branch is also involved as a returner on special teams, so he could break out for a long score in that aspect of the game as well. He is definitely a long-shot play for this week’s King of the End Zone, but he has the game-breaking speed to deliver a long score and a huge payout if he gets in space against the Saints on Monday night.
