Lions, and Vikings, and Bears … and Packers, oh my!
The NFC North is an interesting beast this year. And we can’t wait to see how division play kicks off during the first game of the season when the Chicago Bears host the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football.
Vegas betting shops and online sportsbooks have the Bears listed as -3.5-point favorites, but it is Aaron Rodgers walking into the first game of the NFL’s centennial season – also, the 199th meeting between these two foes – with a new coach and cheese-head-hat-sized chip on his shoulder.
The Bears are odds-on favorites in the NFC North in 2019-2020 and can be found as low as -160 and as high as +180 to win the division. And surprisingly enough, next in line is the Green Bay Packers at +195 despite the fact that they have only won 13 games in the last two seasons.
It’s a tough division. Any of these teams have the chance to beat just about anyone in the NFL on any given Sunday. And the oddsmakers are giving Chicago, Minnesota, and Green Bay all moderate consideration at stealing the division. Let’s look at the average odds for the division:
NFC North Odds
Bears: +175
Packers: +195
Vikings: +225
Lions: +1000
Regular Season Wins
Bears - O/U 9 Games
Packers - O/U 9 Games
Vikings - O/U 9 Games
Lions - O/U 6.5 Games
As you can see, the Bears, Packers, and Vikes are all listed with roughly a 9-win projection. The Packers present an interesting conundrum when we look at the Over/Under on their season wins because there already seems to be some friction between Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFluer. some friction between Aaron Rodgers and Matt LaFluer. And rightly so. Rodgers has audibled at the line for years, and let’s be honest, has much more experience running an offense than LaFleur. And now the new coach is trying to take that freedom away and move into a stiff, non-responsive offense. I would love for LaFleur to be successful in Green Bay, but what has he done? He wasn’t a determining factor in the Rams offensive resurgence … he’s just an OC that hasn’t really accomplished much to merit getting hired as a head coach.
This is somewhat offset by the fact that the Packers have a middling schedule, one of the easiest in the North this year. So, if they win at least one of their head-to-heads with the Bears, they do have a shot of winning the division.
The Vikings struggled to beat good teams last season. And even though the high price tag and role as starting QB force most of the blame over to Captain Kirk, there is a lot more to blame than just Cousins. That said, he has a lot to prove this season, otherwise, he might be parking his van in a different Walmart parking lot –somewhere outside of Minnesota– sooner rather than later.
The Vikings have the 9th toughest schedule, based on last year’s win percentages, so it won’t be an easy road for Cousins and Zimmer. The one saving grace for the Vikes in this regard is the fact that the Bears have the 5th toughest strength of schedule in the league in 2019 –again, why the Packers have a chance to bounce back in 2019.
As far as the Lions go, some say they had a top-five offseason. Others say they absolutely blew it … Now the Lions have Slay and Harrison holding out for better deals. So it looks like the Lions will be dealing with some inner turmoil and that 6.5-win projection seems pretty accurate.
The Vikings have the 9th toughest schedule, based on last year’s win percentages, so it won’t be an easy road for Cousins and Zimmer. The one saving grace for the Vikes in this regard is the fact that the Bears have the 5th toughest strength of schedule in the league in 2019 –again, why the Packers have a chance to bounce back in 2019.
As far as the Lions go, some say they had a top-five offseason. Others say they absolutely blew it … Now the Lions have Slay and Harrison holding out for better deals. So it looks like the Lions will be dealing with some inner turmoil and that 6.5-win projection seems pretty accurate.
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