The NFL schedule release is always a big event for die-hard football fans and that includes elite fantasy football owners too. It is key to see when the top players have bye weeks, do they have games in good weather later in the year, key matchups, and to figure out how you can best maximize your fantasy football team based on the new NFL schedule.
In this week’s Fantasy Football Weekly, let’s look at all that and more as we dive into the 2020 NFL schedule.
Detroit Lions Fantasy Focus
The Detroit Lions have a very tough start to their schedule, an early bye week, and no primetime night games. They do have 15 out of 16 games that should be in good weather or a dome, 14 of the 16 games are 1:00 PM EST starts, and a heavy home schedule to end the season.
I’d expect the good weather and dome games to favor the current multi-dimensional Lions offense and should allow them to throw it very well throughout the year. I also think that will help their run game too where they should see a marked improvement on the ground with fantasy rookie standout D’Andre Swift from Georgia now in a Lions uniform.
Fantasy performers to focus on for the Lions would be hard to identify as I’m not sure there will be many top-scoring stars for Detroit when it comes to fantasy football. In this case that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as I see this as a very balanced offense that will spread the ball around to many different players each week. I could see a bit of a dip for Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones, but increased production for Kerryon Johnson and T.J. Hockenson.
This schedule isn’t an easy one, but it does have some good fantasy football elements for the Detroit Lions. The key will be playing well through that first stretch of tough games, staying healthy, and spreading out defenses with all their weapons. I expect their players to be solid fantasy football players in 2020, but not guys that will win your league for you.
Team Bye Weeks
Week 5: Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers
Week 6: Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks,
Week 7: Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans
Week 8: Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins
Week 9: Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles
Week 10: Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers
Week 11: Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers
Week 12: No Teams On Bye
Week 13: Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Intriguing Lions Fantasy Football Games
Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions, Sunday, September 13, 2020 (Home and Season Opener), 1:00 PM, EST
Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers, Sunday, September 20, 2020, 1:00 PM, EST
New Orleans Saints at Detroit Lions, Sunday, October 4, 2020, 1:00 PM, EST
Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, October 25, 2020, 1:00 PM, EST
Houston Texans at Detroit Lions, Thursday, November 26, 2020, 12:30 PM, EST
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions, December 27 or 28, 2020 (TBD)
Final Word
It may seem like a minor thing, but the NFL schedule can have a major impact on your fantasy team. I still say take the best players in your draft and figure out the bye weeks as you go, but making sure you don’t have multiple top players on a bye week later in the season could be a key to you making the playoffs or your team being on the outside looking in.
Another strategy I’ve seen is to load up on bye weeks for all your top players and then even if you lose that week all of your players are then available for all other weeks. This strategy is pretty risky and doesn’t leave much room for injuries or trades to make it work as intended. I feel you should use the information above though to make good decisions while in your drafts, but the NFL schedule is only one of the many factors to be considered and shouldn’t be the reason you win or lose your championship.
You can find Derek on Twitter @DerekOkrie for all your offseason fantasy football needs.
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Check out game-by-game score predictions from around the NFL Wires network:
Buf / Mia / NE / NYJ // Bal / Cin / Cle / Pit // Hou / Ind / Jax / Ten // Den / KC / LV / LAC //// Dal / NYG / Phi / Was // Chi / Det / GB / Min // Atl / Car / NO / TB // Ari / LAR / SF / Sea
