{"id":390839,"date":"2026-01-03T13:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T18:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=390839"},"modified":"2026-01-03T13:33:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T18:33:26","slug":"nfl-td-picks-and-predictions-week-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/nfl-td-picks-and-predictions-week-18\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 18 TD picks: Bet on trio of long shots in regular season finale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I&#8217;m attacking one of the most unpredictable weeks of the NFL season with three long-shot touchdown picks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The pregame narrative:<\/strong> Connor Heyward has sneaky value to score a touchdown as an understated member of the Pittsburgh Steelers&#8217; red-zone offence. Sean Tucker is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers&#8217; preferred goal-line back and has nice odds to find pay dirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out my top NFL Week 18 TD picks, featuring Brock Purdy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Join NorthStar Bets to start betting on the NFL<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">NFL Week 18 TD picks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best bet: Heyward to score a TD (+750)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;re going out with a bang with this touchdown pick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the final game of the NFL season, and it could potentially be the last game of Aaron Rodgers&#8217; career. I expect the Steelers to do everything they can to win this game, and that should involve Heyward getting the ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Pittsburgh is in short-yardage situations, it will utilize the tush push. Unlike the Philadelphia Eagles, who put the ball in Jalen Hurts&#8217; hands, the Steelers don&#8217;t turn to their quarterback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They look to Heyward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_onlys\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Go to full Ravens vs. Steelers prop markets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, Heyward scored a tush push touchdown just a few weeks ago in Week 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Steelers are giving him the ball more in recent outings, too. Heyward only had six carries through the first 13 weeks of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He&#8217;s matched that total in the last three weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pittsburgh is short on offensive talent, too. The team is without DK Metcalf and Darnell Washington for this contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I expect Heyward&#8217;s involvement to rise and for him to have a chance at a short touchdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key stat:<\/strong> Heyward is tied for the team lead in carries inside the five over the last four weeks (two).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Don&#8217;t miss out \u2014 Bet on NFL Week 18<\/a><\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">NFL Week 18 touchdown bets<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Tucker to score a TD (+200):<\/strong> Tampa Bay&#8217;s top red zone running back is a nice value to score a touchdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Bet on Saturday&#8217;s NFL prop markets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tucker has the third-best odds to score a TD on the Bucs, coming in behind fellow running back Bucky Irving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I don&#8217;t think that should be the case:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tucker leads Tampa Bay in carries inside the 20 (21), inside the 10 (14), and inside the five (11) this season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Irving has not recorded a carry inside the five since returning from injury in Week 13. Tucker has seven carries inside the five during the same stretch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Tucker has a touchdown in three of his last four games, including in his team&#8217;s Week 16 loss to the Carolina Panthers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Purdy to score a TD (+500):<\/strong> Lastly, I&#8217;m betting on Purdy shining on a big stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Purdy showed in Week 17 that he&#8217;s going to take off when he needs to. He turned six carries into 28 yards and two scores in his team&#8217;s win over the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Bet on NFL Sunday prop markets<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Purdy is now up to three rushing touchdowns in his last four games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Seattle Seahawks rank fifth in pressure percentage (26.1%) and should be able to flush Purdy out of the pocket. When that happens near the end zone, expect Purdy to look to score himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>NFL TD picks made at 12:51 p.m. ET on Jan. 3, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Sign up to NorthStar Bets today<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m attacking one of the most unpredictable weeks of the NFL season with three long-shot touchdown picks. The pregame narrative: Connor Heyward has sneaky value to score a touchdown as an understated member of the Pittsburgh Steelers&#8217; red-zone offence. Sean Tucker is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers&#8217; preferred goal-line back and has nice odds to find [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":390749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sidebar_plugin_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[452,62],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-390839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-com","category-nba","tag-nba"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NFL Week 18 TD picks: Odds, best bets &amp; predictions | The Boost<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our 2026 NFL Week 18 TD picks. 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