One Storyline For Each 2020 Opponent (Weeks 10-17)

Here's one storyline for each of the Packers' 2020 opponents for the second half of the season. 

Earlier this week I gave one storyline for each of the Packers’ first seven opponents on the 2020 schedule. Today we’ll wrap things up with the last six, excluding any NFC North repeats. 

Jacksonville Jaguars

Oh, Jacksonville. Rather than talk about a specific player, I wanted to highlight a statistic that stood out to me given the caliber of player at this position. The Jaguars only had three rushing touchdowns in 2019. Three. All three of course came from former first-round selection Leonard Fournette, but is it any wonder why the running back wants to be traded or released? While Fournette still compiled 1,674 all purpose yards on the season, for context, the New York Jets had the second-lowest rushing touchdown total and still finished with six. With the team’s best players trying to abandon ship for different squads (see Yannick Ngakoue), it’s hard to picture what this Jaguars team will look like in 2020. 

Indianapolis Colts

Despite only finishing 7-9 in 2019, the Colts are a solid football team and certainly spent the offseason getting better. In a crowded AFC South, they could surprise and win the division pretty easily. I think the biggest storyline for the Colts is the signing of Philip Rivers in free agency. Rivers and the team’s draft picks could be the final pieces to get the offense over the hump. Both running back Jonathan Taylor (Go Badgers) and receiver Michael Pittman Jr. should make immediate impacts on an offense that already includes T.Y. Hilton and Marlon Mack. 

Chicago Bears

I’ve gone on record before saying I think Robert Quinn to Chicago was one of the best free agent signings in 2020. Pairing him with Khalil Mack will make an already dominant front seven even better this season. But, that’s not the real storyline here, and we all know that. The Bears have a bit of a quarterback controversy brewing in the Windy City after bringing in Nick Foles to compete with Mitchell Trubisky for the starting job, even though the two quarterbacks have put up some eerily similar stats. It would be hard to call Foles an immediate improvement over Trubisky, and Trubisky likely has more long-term upside, but he’s yet to put that consistently on the field. It’s fully possible that by the time the Packers play the Bears in Week 12, we’ll have seen both quarterbacks in the huddle for Chicago. Oh. And the Bears have roughly 94 tight ends on the current roster, including Jimmy Graham. 

Philadelphia Eagles

Just like the 49ers, the success of this team will boil down to the quarterback position in 2020. While Carson Wentz played a full 16-game season for the Eagles in 2019, an unfortunate concussion knocked him out of the playoffs. With a healthy Wentz, the Eagles have a loaded offense. In addition to Alshon Jeffrey, Desean Jackson, Marquise Goodwin, Zach Ertz, and Dallas Goedtert, Philadelphia selected receiver Jalen Reagor in the first round. The NFC East is up for grabs, and it could come down to a two-horse race between the Eagles and Cowboys for the division. 

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers parted ways with Ron Rivera (now with Washington) after nine seasons and selected Matt Rhule as the team’s fifth head coach in franchise history. Rhule comes from the college football world having coached at both Baylor and Temple. Before that, Rhule had a brief stint in the NFL as the New York Giants’ offensive line coach in 2012. He also played linebacker at Penn State. Rhule is inheriting some talented players, but also a roster that’s seen a lot of recent turnover. The Panthers finished 2019 with a 5-11 record. With Teddy Bridgewater the team’s starting quarterback entering the 2020 season, all eyes will be on Rhule to turn the franchise around.

Tennessee Titans 

This past offseason, the Titans committed to Ryan Tannehill being the long-term solution at the quarterback position. Now just this week, running back Derrick Henry also got paid to stay in Tennessee for the next four years on a contract worth $50 million. The Titans came one game away from the Super Bowl behind a dominant run game. Did they do enough this offseason to close the gap and remain in contention in a competitive AFC South? 

 

 

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Maggie Loney is a writer for Cheesehead TV and podcaster for the Pack-A-Day Podcast and Pack's What She Said. Find her on Twitter at @MaggieJLoney.

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Comments (2)

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PatrickGB's picture

July 17, 2020 at 05:33 pm

Every one of these teams are beatable.

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Samson's picture

July 18, 2020 at 06:16 pm

Agree. --- The 2020 NFL schedule will eventually become the 2021 NFL schedule... GB can take them all next year, also.

The 2020 NFL season is motivated by money..... That's the wrong reason..... The virus isn't listening.

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