2020 NFC North preview: Is the Vikings’ defensive dynasty over?

The NFC North could be very interesting this year. None of the teams received very high marks for their offseason moves. It could be argued that a couple of teams overperformed based on their actual talent last year, while maybe a team or two was actually better than their 2019 record suggests.

It very much seems like the division could be up for grabs in 2020, with, yes, the Detroit Lions even in the mix.

But to make sure we weren’t being big homers with this viewpoint, we decided to pull in Arif Hasan from The Athletic Minnesota on our PODcast this week.

Arif tells us about the Vikings’ mass exodus in free agency and makes sense of what the team looks like now. Can Mike Zimmer keep his defense in the top 10 this year, or has there just been too much roster turnover? And what the hell can we make of the Vikings’ 15 draft picks? How many of them could actually make an impact in 2020?

From there, we asked Arif to give his thoughts on the NFC North as a whole, how the Lions did in their offseason, and we have a good 5-10 minutes just laughing at the Chicago Bears. Plus: Kirk Cousins or Matthew Stafford?

After we let Arif go, we head into the mailbag to take on a bunch of Lions questions. Will Amani Oruwariye eventually be the starter opposite Jeff Okudah? What would we name the “Lions” if they had to change their name? What are realistic expectations for the offensive line? And most importantly, how would we dominate the Big Sweep in the game show “Supermarket Sweep.”

Arif is one of my favorite guests, as he brings the laughter and the rock-solid analysis. He’s also very fair to both the Vikings’ and the Lions’ offseason, so I promise you’re going to want to check out this episode.

Listen here: