NFL Predictions 2020: Dark horse picks to win each division

Dark horse NFL teams that could win each division in the 2020 season.

Entering the 2020 NFL season, there are surely favorites to win each division. Those who won their respective race the previous season often come in with the highest expectations, but they have to do enough work to hold off the rest of their rivals.

All the other teams in those divisions are constantly trying to do enough to get back into the mix. Trying to match up with the best of the best, they go out and add talent in free agency and the draft, while also working out a trade or two if necessary.

Now that the majority of that is in the rearview, we look ahead to the 2020 NFL Season and identify one team from each division that could go from dark horse to division winner, starting with the AFC East.

AFC East: New England Patriots

Does it feel weird to call the New England Patriots a dark horse? Yes. But it’s still true.

Since 2003, the Patriots have won the division every year with the exception of one. In 2008, the Miami Dolphins won the division, which just so happened to be the year where Tom Brady missed all but one game with a torn ACL.

Now in 2020, Brady is gone again as he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With him gone, the division is finally wide open and there really is no true favorite. That plays right into the hands of Bill Belichick who thrives once he is doubted.

Without Brady, Belichick will be turning to Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer and considering their lack of urgency in free agency, and the fact that they didn’t draft a quarterback, he’s clearly comfortable with the options he has.

That should concern the rest of the AFC East as Belichick truly believes he can compete this season even without the best quarterback the franchise has ever had.