NFL Win Total Betting – Predicting Lions’ Wins in 2020

For a second there, the Lions looked like they’d have a fun 2019 NFL season. They were smoking the Arizona Cardinals and about to go 1-0.

Then the collapse came, the Lions sputtered their way to a tie, and won three games the rest of the season. Of course, context is everything — especially when you go 3-12-1.

For one, Detroit spent half the year trying to compete with star quarterback Matthew Stafford (back) sidelined. And compete they did, with eight of their 12 defeats coming by just one score.

This could tell us that the Lions are a bit better than what last year showed us. But does that help us when trying to come to Detroit Lions win total predictions for 2020?

It’s debatable, but we have to try. Join me as I check out their win total bets and odds at the top NFL sportsbooks.

Detroit’s win total over/under is pretty tough to love. Not only do they need to more than double last year’s wins to hit the over, but they also need to do it in the face of the league’s 5^th-toughest schedule.

Just brutal.

I actually don’t hate the Lions as a whole, though. Matthew Stafford was on pace for 38 passing scores and almost 5,000 yards before going down with a back injury, so there is very real upside with the Lions.

Unfortunately, even with his career-numbers pace, Detroit still wasn’t winning games. I have to anticipate a huge leap in a tougher than advertised NFC North, too — a division where almost everyone pegs them as (still) the worst team.

Detroit is getting better, and they should win a bit more than they did in 2019. But they’d need a sizable jump to beat expectations, and the more realistic outcome pays better.

I’m giving you a pick if you want to bet on the Lions’ win/loss total in 2020, but the better play may be to target their exact win total.

Wiggle room can be underrated in bets. Yeah, the Lions aren’t great bets to win seven games, but I wouldn’t say they absolutely can’t, and I also don’t think they’re going to be as bad as they were in 2019.

Suffice it to say, the 5-9 win range looks pretty good if you’re looking to bet on how many games the Lions will win this year.

Detroit probably isn’t going on a wild 15- or 16-game run in 2020, and I doubt they even get 10+ wins. You certainly could go back to the well of despair and hope they flame out en route to Matt Patricia’s inevitable firing (0-4, +280), but the 5-9 window gives you more successful outcomes and better matches who I think they’ll be this season.

A healthy Stafford makes a big difference, while the team actually has a solid cast of weapons around him on offense. If they pass rush can improve at all, this team could be quite competitive in 2020.

While I don’t anticipate a big leap for Detroit, I do think they’ll be better than what their 3-12-1 record of a year ago suggests. Honestly, I already think that was the case last season.

As noted, the Lions lost a ton of close games, while some were flat-out collapses, and one game in Green Bay was a total farce.

Let’s not understate the value of Stafford, either. Detroit wasn’t ripping off wins with him under center, but they went 3-4-1 with him and a horrifying 0-8 without him.

This included losing to the awful Redskins by a field goal, as well as five defeats of eight points or fewer.

Detroit also got off to a pretty good start a year ago. They collapsed and tied the Cardinals but bounced back to go 2-0-1 before blowing a big lead at home against the Chiefs and then getting hosed in Green Bay.

Just like that, the Lions were 2-2-1, and their season was beginning to unravel. But if things broke slightly different, Detroit is 5-0, and this is a very different story.

This is a long-winded take that leads to that 5-9 window as a great bet for 2020.