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When the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots meet on Thursday night, both will be in the second game of integrating major pieces back into their offenses -- Caleb Williams for the Bears and A.J. Brown for the Patriots. And both teams won in their stars' respective returns.
However, the impact of those stars was drastically different. While Williams' picked up right where he left off, throwing for 305 yards and a touchdown, Brown struggled mightily to find a connection with Drake Maye and caught just three of 10 passes thrown his way.
As we move into a new week, the contribution of those stars should only increase. Each factors heavily into my favorite anytime touchdown scorer picks for Thursday's game.
A.J. Brown (+135)
The key stat for Brown last week was 10
targets, which led the Patriots and showed how committed the team is to getting him the ball. For a receiver as talented as Brown, it's only a matter of time until that type of target share turns into real production. Chicago is a good matchup for that to begin after knocking some of the rust off last week.
D'Andre Swift (-160)
The Pats allowed touchdowns to running backs in three straight games before keeping Jets backs out of the end zone last week. And if Swift can't beat them on the ground, he'll be able to do it in the air against a defense that's allowed the fifth-most receiving yards to running backs.
Colston Loveland (+175)
Williams' return gave Loveland is best game of the season last week, as he went for six catches, 65 yards and his first touchdown of the season. New England is a good matchup for the tight end to return to the end zone and start his first streak of the season.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Patriots-Bears anytime touchdown scorer predictions for Thursday Night Football
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