2020 NFC North Preview
Yahoo Sports’ Senior NFL Writer Frank Schwab gives an in-depth breakdown of the division. Including team-by-team roster changes, key points of the schedule, and his over/under picks for season win totals.
Video Transcript
FRANK SCHWAB: The Green Bay Packers have won the NFC North 6 of the past 10 seasons, including last year. But will this be the year the Bears, Vikings, or Lions come up and knock them off? Let's start in Green Bay where defending NFC North Champs didn't do a lot to the roster.
It's been talked about a lot this offseason. They drafted quarterback Jordan Love in the first round, a very controversial pick. And it was controversial because they didn't do much else with the skill positions around Aaron Rodgers. When I take a look at the Packers schedule, a five game stretch really stands out because four of those games are going to be at home.
Starting on November 29, the Packers get the Bears, Eagles, Panthers, and Titans all at Lambeau Field. There are some tough opponents in there but. The Packers are supposed to win late in the year when it gets cold at Lambeau Field. So if they can get on a roll in those home games they can really make life tough on the rest of the NFC North.
At BetMGM, the Packers over-under win total is nine. That's a really tough number. I think the Packers are going to land right about at 9. If I had to take one or the other I think I'd go slightly to the under thinking that this Packers team is in for some regression, and maybe this quarterback controversy between Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love really affects the team. So I'll take a lean to the under on nine wins for the Packers.
Next, we're going to go a little bit to the South and the Chicago Bears who had an odd off season. They traded for quarterback, Nick Foles, which seemed like a little bit of a desperation move given that they don't have a lot of confidence in Mitchell Trubisky anymore. They signed Robert Quinn. They signed Jimmy Graham. But I don't really love what the Bears did roster wise in the off season unless Nick Foles really has a big year for them.
When I look at the schedule, two games obviously standout. Week 12 at Green Bay. Week 17 against Green Bay. The Packers and Bears, longtime rivals. And I think that week 17 game at Chicago between the Bears and Packers could end up having huge playoff implications.
When I look at BetMGM win total for the Chicago Bears, it's 8 and 1/2. That seems a little lofty. And I'll lean to the under. I think a lot can still go wrong for the Bears if they're unsettled at quarterback, their offense doesn't rebound. This defense is very, very good. But I'll still take the Bears under 8 and a 1/2 even though they have a chance to rebound this season.
Next up is the Minnesota Vikings who saw a lot of roster turnover this offseason. They had salary cap problems. So some veterans have to go. Stefon Diggs was traded to the Buffalo Bills. Others like Linval Joseph was let go. This is a Vikings team that's going to look a lot different and a lot younger. They had a huge draft class this year led by LSU receiver, Justin Jefferson, who is going to step in and play right away.
When I look at the Vikings schedule I think they need to get off to a fast start. And it's not going to be easy. They host the Packers in week one. And that becomes a huge game because three of their next four are on the road. If they lose to the Packers on opening week the Vikings are looking at a really rough start to the season. And that's not what they want especially with how much change they've had.
At BetMGM, the Vikings over-under win total is 8 and 1/2. I'll go under that. I think with all these changes, it's going to be tough for the Vikings to maintain the high level they had last year.
Finally, we're looking at the Detroit Lions who again this offseason built a roster full of ex-Patriots players. They added Danny Shelton, Jamie Collins, Duron Harmon. You can sense a theme. That's the second straight off season for Matt Patricia. He's relied on old Patriots players to bolster his roster. They did lose a lot of talent. They traded Darius Slay. I really like what the Lions did this off season. But that's kind of par for the course for that franchise.
This Lion team is going to have to get off to a fast start this season. But when I look at the first four games of the schedule it's going to be tough. They play the Bears in week one, a tough division rival. Then they go on the road to play the Packers. And a really tricky Cardinals team that gave the Lions a bit of problems last year. At the end of that four game stretch is a home game against the New Orleans Saints.
At BetMGM the over-under for the Lions is 6 and 1/2. And like the rest of division I have to go under with that. Matt Patricia needs to show me he's a quality coach in the NFL before I give this team the benefit of the doubt.
If you want to get in on the action go to betmgm.com/yahoo and sign up today. New users get 100% match up to $1,000 on first time deposit. To sum up an NFC North that I'm obviously not very high on, I do have the Green Bay Packers winning the division again albeit at about 9 and 7 or 8 and 8 as they regress a little bit. Right behind them I have the Chicago Bears also right around 8 and 8. And then the Minnesota Vikings who I also believe are going to be right around 8 and 8. And then in last place I have the Detroit Lions who aren't going to be that close to 8 and 8 as Matt Patricia is fighting for his job.
