Who scored first td tonight Super Bowl

Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson has gained acclaim by going 12-for-12 on field goals in the playoffs, including game-winners against Tennessee and Kansas City.

But Circa Sports is much more concerned about McPherson running into the end zone in Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams.

Circa is offering odds on nearly every player to score the first touchdown Sunday, including improbable ones such as offensive linemen, long snappers and the kickers.

Circa found a taker on McPherson at 3,000-1, and sportsbook manager Chris Bennett said he will actually have to sweat out that result Sunday.

“No matter what happens with the money we write in this pool until the game starts, if he scores the first touchdown, we’re going to get clobbered,” Bennett said. “The liability is way more than the amount of money that we’ll take on the pool overall.”

Most of the bets on the first touchdown score props will be on the obvious suspects. Rams receiver Cooper Kupp is the favorite at Circa at +475, followed by Bengals running back Joe Mixon at +650, Rams running back Cam Akers at 7-1, Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr. at 8-1 and Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase at +925.

Bennett said he books the prop knowing which players he wants to win on and which ones he’s comfortable losing to. He wants to win on the favorite, and Kupp’s low odds should keep him from being a liability for Circa.

Bennett said he’s comfortable losing to a player such as Bengals backup running Samaje Perine, who scored only two TDs in the regular season but broke a 41-yard score against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC title game.

“I opened him 60-1. I figured there was a decent chance someone would want to bet him at those odds. They did,” Bennett said.

Perine is down to 45-1 at Circa.

Westgate SuperBook sportsbook director John Murray said its biggest liabilities were on Rams tight end Tyler Higbee (20-1), whose status is uncertain because of a knee injury, and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (30-1).

“And as usual we would lose big if there is no TD in the game, which we have at 200-1,” Murray said via text message. “That gave us a real scare the last time the Rams were in the Super Bowl three years ago.”

New England finally scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a 13-3 victory over the Rams to prevent that outcome.

Bennett said bookmakers have to accept that a long-shot outcome could beat them. If McPherson somehow scores on a fake field goal, oh, well.

“I’m going to dare any guy that’s 150-1 or higher to score the first touchdown,” he said.

But there’s no use taking any more liability. McPherson’s odds are down to 750-1.

Contact Jim Barnes at or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.

Will Cooper Kupp or Joe Mixon score the first touchdown on Super Bowl Sunday? The odds are in their favor, but it could be more of a longshot. Maybe Kendall Blanton will score for the Rams playing at tight end instead of Tyler Higbee. Or perhaps Drew Sample hits pay dirt if C.J. Uzomah is unable to play. Betting on the first touchdown is an easy way to have something to root for early in the game and the odds usually have decent payouts.

Kupp is the most likely to score a touchdown in Super Bowl LVI, according to the odds at BetMGM, with -165 odds on a touchdown at any time in the game. Mixon is next at -140. Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is the only other player with minus odds at -110. While Kupp and Mixon have combined for a 37 total touchdowns (including playoffs) this year, we’ve seen everyone from Kupp and Mixon to Uzomah and Blanton win a first TD prop.

Super Bowl TD prop odds

All odds from BetMGM. Odds updated at 9:15 a.m. ET Sunday. Click here for live odds.

A bettor at BetMGM bet $10,000 on Matthew Stafford to score the first touchdown at +6600 odds. That would win $660,000. Stafford’s odds have since changed to offer lower payouts on Stafford touchdowns.

Rams touchdowns

The Rams scored eight touchdowns on offense in the playoffs leading up to the Super Bowl, six passing and two rushing. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford ran for both  rushing touchdowns. Stafford didn’t have any rushing touchdowns in the regular season, but those two in the postseason have his anytime TD odds at just 9-to-1.

To a similar points, the Rams’ rushing game hasn’t been effective in the playoffs. Cam Akers is back from injury, but is averaging just 2.8 yards per carry.  Michel only had four touchdowns in the regular season. Still, Akers is just +115 to score a touchdown and Michel is 2-to-1. If the sportsbooks offer a yes/no prop on touchdown scorers, this could be a good no bet.

Kupp had 16 TDs in the regular season and has four more in the playoffs. It’s hard to think of -165 as being a value, but Kupp scored a touchdown in 11 of 17 regular season games and has done so in all three playoff games as well. The -165 odds carry implied odds of 62.26%. Kupp scored a touchdown in 64.7% of games in the regular season and that number goes up to 70% if you add in the playoff games. Kupp scoring two or more touchdowns, something he has done six times this season, is listed at +200.

Odell Beckham Jr. joined the Rams midseason from the Browns and his touchdown production surged from zero in six games with Cleveland to five in eight regular season games with LA. Beckham also has a touchdown in the playoffs. Scoring touchdowns in six of 11 games with the Rams closely lines up with his -110 odds of scoring a TD.

Rams tight end Kendall Blanton has emerged in the postseason, most recently with five receptions for 57 yards in the NFC title game. Blanton entered the playoffs with just four career receptions. He got his first career TD in the Divisional round against Tampa Bay. His odds for an anytime TD are +200. This line has continued to rise after Tyler Higbee was ruled out for Super Bowl LVI.

Bengals touchdowns

Kupp is the focal point of the Rams offense, but the Bengals have distributed the ball more evenly in the playoffs. Joe Burrow has thrown touchdowns to four different players in the playoffs (Chase, C.J. Uzomah, Tyler Boyd and Samaje Perine).

Mixon has one rushing touchdown in the playoffs, but had 13 rushing and three receiving scores in the regular season. Are the Bengals going away from Mixon? Not really. Mixon averaged 18.25 carries per game in the regular season and that’s down to 17.33 in the playoffs. Mixon had 88 yards on 21 carries against Kansas City in the AFC title game, but didn’t find the end zone.

Mixon scored in 11 of 16 games in the regular season, which justifies his -140 price, but he enters the Super Bowl having found the end zone in just two of his last seven games.

Chase has emerged as a star in his rookie year. His LSU connection with Burrow has become the foundation of the Bengals franchise. However, he also has only scored a touchdown in two of his last seven games, both of those games against the Chiefs. He did score three times against the Chiefs in one of those games in a dominant performance.

Chase scored touchdowns in 10 different games this season, including the playoffs. His -110 odds might be a bit steep, but Chase will get plenty of targets.

Outside of Chase, Burrow distributes the ball fairly evenly as far as touchdowns. Tee Higgins (+230 anytime TD) had 74 receptions for 1,091 yards this regular season, but only six TDs compared to Chase’s 13. Boyd (+190) and Uzomah (+230) each had five scores in the regular season as well. Uzomah left the AFC Championship game with a knee injury so don’t place any bets on him until his status is clear.

More Super Bowl news

(Photo of Cooper Kupp: Christian Petersen / Getty Images; The Athletic may receive an affiliate commission if you open an account with BetMGM through links contained in the above article.)

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Three months after being released by the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. scored the first touchdown of Super Bowl LVI.

Los Angeles got the football near midfield after a fourth-down stop against the Cincinnati Bengals. Six plays later, Beckham Jr. created enough separation in the end zone and made a leaping grab over the defensive back for the first touchdown of the game.

• Odell Beckham Jr playoff stats: 19 receptions, 236 receiving yards and one touchdown

Operating out of the slot, Beckham Jr. only needed to create a little space between himself and Bengals’ cornerback Mike Hilton. Matthew Stafford saw that small window and delivered the perfect strike, tossing it up only where OBJ could grab it mid-air.

Just months after many suggested Odell Beckham Jr’s best days might be in the rearview mirror after a rough stint in Cleveland, he is proving himself in Los Angeles and already making a case for Super Bowl MVP.