3 Underrated NFL storylines for the 2020 season
By Dustin Baker
What are the other notable storylines in the NFL aside from the obvious ones?
We know the dominant storylines entering the 2020 NFL season. Will the Kansas City Chiefs be the first team to repeat as champions since the mid-2000s New England Patriots? Can Tom Brady whip up geriatric magic in west Florida? Will the season even really get off the ground with coronavirus concerns? Is Lamar Jackson going to be MVP-like every year? Will Cam Newton resurrect his career with Bill Belichick?
Those are the questions that will float the airwaves of talk radio for the next five weeks. And rightfully so; they are intriguing topics.
But there are 32 teams in the NFL competing for the same goal. And that is while they conduct operations amid a pandemic that makes everything unconventional. The storylines are abounding and each team has at least one.
An honorably-mentioned plot to this list is the future of the Los Angeles Rams. First, with the Rams, the team was a Super Bowl contestant just 17 months ago. The team now finds itself nestled in a division that has the closest thing to shoo-ins in for playoff contenders that you can find: the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
For the Niners, it’s the brick-by-brick system and roster that they have constructed in The Bay. Super Bowl finalists do, in fact, regress often the next year, but the Niners do not feel like a candidate for said backslide.
Next, do we really think Russell Wilson is going to allow the Seahawks to flounder? No, we don’t. The Rams, Niners, and Seahawks will clobber each in division slugfests. Can the Rams walk out alive and meander in the postseason? What’s more, the Cardinals are in the division, too, and they seek to aerially topple all comers.
Dozens of other talking-point scenarios akin to this one are swirling but here are three engrossing ones to file in your memory bank.
Note: All stats are courtesy of Pro Football Reference.