Drake Maye and the New England Patriots will look for their first playoff victory since 2018 as they host the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card Round on Sunday.
Both quarterbacks have been prolific this year, and I’m taking a couple of their favorite targets to score in my Chargers vs. Patriots anytime touchdown picks for January 11.
For more NFL picks, make sure to check out our full Chargers vs. Patriots predictions!
Chargers anytime touchdown pick
Hunter Henry (+165 at FanDuel)
Drake Maye is a deserving MVP candidate this season, having tossed 31 touchdown passes while completing 72% of his throws.
That’s involved spreading the ball around a lot, as nine different New England Patriots receivers have 10+ receptions on the year, and 10 different players have caught a touchdown pass.
The leader in that category, however, has been Hunter Henry, who caught seven touchdowns during the regular season.
Henry ranked second in receptions (60), targets (87), and yards (768) behind Stefon Diggs, and has maintained his production down the stretch, scoring two touchdowns in the last three games while catching 14 balls in that span.
The Los Angeles Chargers have made life tough on opposing quarterbacks this year — the 72.9 opposing QB rating they’ve allowed is the lowest in the NFL — and I’m expecting nothing different on Sunday.
With a defense that can bring pressure and force turnovers, it may be more about making smart throws than pushing the ball down the field for Maye, a recipe that favors Henry even more than normal.
Let’s go with the tight end to find the endzone in Maye’s first postseason appearance.
Patriots anytime touchdown pick
Keenan Allen (+280 at FanDuel)
Justin Herbert also has his own suite of targets to choose from in the Los Angeles offense. Four different players had over 600 yards receiving on the season, while nine different targets were able to snag at least one touchdown this year in the Chargers' offense.
But while Ladd McConkey led the team in yardage and Quentin Johnston had the most receiving touchdowns, veteran Keenan Allen remains the most dependable option for Herbert week in and week out.
Allen led the Chargers with 81 receptions, and he’s gotten a lot of looks in some of Los Angeles’ toughest contests, including collecting seven catches on 13 targets last week in a loss to the Denver Broncos.
It's been a while since Allen has scored, and he has only collected four touchdowns in total this year. But he should be a primary target in what will be a tough environment in Foxboro this weekend.
The Patriots have been excellent at preventing big plays — they are only giving up 9.4 yards per completion on the year — and Allen is mostly deployed as a possession receiver at this point in his career.
There’s no guarantee that even a flurry of targets will lead to a touchdown for Allen, but it will definitely give him opportunities in the red zone. And with nearly +300 offered, I’m happy to back this wily veteran in a big game.
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