The 2020 National Football League season has arrived. It’s been a long seven months since the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LIV, and we are about to go from zero to 100 in a hurry with no preseason action before Week 1. The lack of exhibition games means a lot less to work with for our 2020 forecasts. At The TSN Edge, we decided to take a closer look at the sports betting information available for all 32 teams in order to get a better idea of what those numbers indicate we can expect for this upcoming season. Here is the latest instalment of our division preview series, focusing on the NFC North. 

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

NFC North Champion Odds: +160

Team Win Total: 8.5 Wins

Adam Thielen could be in store for a big season. The 30-year-old dealt with injuries for most of 2019 that forced him to miss six regular-season games. Those injuries hindered him drastically. During the opening seven weeks of the season, Thielen had six touchdowns and 391 receiving yards. Over the final nine weeks, he would suit up just three more times – catching just three passes for just 27 yards. He showed his top-end talent once again in the Vikings' NFC Wild Card round win over the New Orleans Saints (A game that my friend Alex would like to forget about) when he hauled in seven passes for 129 yards. Thielen enters the season with an over/under of 1,075.5 yards – a mark that he surpassed in both 2017 and 2018. Thielen could see an increase in volume this season with the departure of Stefan Diggs. Diggs was targeted 94 times last season and brought in 1,130 yards and six scores. The team addressed their wide receiver depth by drafting Justin Jefferson out of LSU. However, as a rookie, it’s hard to see him commanding the ball as much as Diggs. If Thielen can stay healthy, I would expect QB Kirk Cousins to rely heavily on his No. 1 wide receiver as he looks primed for another 1,000+ yard receiving season.

 

GREEN BAY PACKERS

NFC North Champion Odds: +175

Team Win Total: 9 Wins

Aaron Rodgers enters his 13th season as the Green Bay Packers starter, presumably more motivated than ever. That’s because just a few hours before this year’s NFL Draft, Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee show: “We haven't picked a skill player in the first round in 15 years, so that would be kind of cool." Safe to say that didn’t happen as the Packers moved up in the first round to select quarterback Jordan Love. So what does that mean for Rodgers? Its means that his time in Green Bay is officially on the clock. The Packers didn’t burn a first-round pick on a guy to have Love sit on the bench until 2024 when Rodgers becomes a free agent. The Super Bowl 45 MVP will be out to prove to everybody in Green Bay, and the entire league, that he is still a top-tier quarterback. Rodgers has thrown for at least 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns eight times in his career. His passing yard prop total is set at 3,900.5 passing yards. The two-time MVP will turn 37 this season, Peyton Manning threw for 5,477 yards and 55 touchdowns in his age-37 season. Tom Brady had 4,109 yards and 33 scores while Drew Brees had 5,208 and 37. Are you seeing a trend? Rodgers’ age won’t be an issue; he has extra motivation to post big numbers this year, and he has a track record of staying healthy enough to remain on the field for 16 games.

 

CHICAGO BEARS

NFC North Champion Odds: +350

Team Win Total: 8.5 Wins

This one is a little bit awkward for me. My boss is a great man, and he’s the first person in this industry to give me a job and I’ll forever be grateful for that, but he’s a Bears fan. So, Jamie, I hope you skip this one. The Bears went 8-8 under Mitchell Trubisky last season. Despite trading for Nick Foles this off-season, it’s not surprising that the team has gone back to Trubisky as the Week 1 starter. It won’t take long for us to see if head coach Matt Nagy made the right decision. The Bears open the year with three winnable games before they arrive at a tough stretch that includes the Colts, Buccaneers, Rams, Saints, Titans and Vikings before their bye week. Off the bye, they will travel to Lambeau Field to take on the Packers. I won’t give you the entire schedule, but it’s not an easy one. Just two seasons ago, Chicago fielded the No. 1 defence in the league. Last year was a lot different, and it didn’t help that the offence couldn’t stay on the field. With the uncertainty at quarterback and a lack of depth at wide receiver, wide receiver Allen Robinson could be in for an interesting year. His receiving yards player prop is set at 1,025.5. Considering he went for 1,147 yards and seven touchdowns last season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he topped that mark again in 2020. 

 

DETROIT LIONS

NFC North Champion Odds: +600

Team Win Total: 6.5 Wins

I think it’s safe to say that Matt Patricia’s time in Detroit has been a disappointing one so far. After going 6-10 in his opening season, the former New England Patriots defensive coordinator went 3-12-1 in 2019. Let’s cut Patricia some slack - the team went 0-9 to end the season after Pro Bowl QB Matthew Stafford was lost for the season. For all of the talk about a potential coaching change in Detroit, Patricia is back for 2020. That might not be the case for next year if the Lions don’t do better than their projected win total of 6.5. Detroit opens its season against the Bears in Week 1, followed by the Packers, Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints before a Week 5 bye. The Lions and Patricia want to win now. If that doesn’t happen early in the season, the franchise might just end up looking somewhere else sooner rather than later.

*All sports betting information appears as listed by Bet MGM at 6:00 PM ET on Wednesday September 9th, 2020.

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