Chicago Bears: Three reasons the NFC North is wide open in 2020

3. Detroit has no true game-changers on the roster

Lions fans will disagree but let’s be honest: There’s no player currently on the roster that’s going to take the game over and swing momentum. Detroit is heading into year three of the Matt Patricia era and they’ve won just nine games over the last seasons.

Besides Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Jeffery Okudah, the Lions made no significant moves this offseason,. Both names mentioned above will look to have day one impacts, while the hope is that Matthew Stafford is healthy and ready to go.

One area where Detroit could regress is defense. Despite the presence of pass rusher Trey Flowers, a new defensive coordinator, Cory Undlin, will be leading the defense in 2020. Undlin’s background centers around being a defensive back and cornerbacks coach meaning even if Detroit’s secondary takes a step forward in 2020, the defense as a whole may not.

Overall, for the Lions, Stafford will need to be healthy and have an MVP-type season if the Lions want to avoid finishing in the NFC North’s cellar for the third straight season in the Matt Patricia era.