NFL Hall of Famer not sold on Vikings winning NFC North in 2020

LaDainian Tomlinson doesn’t think the Minnesota Vikings will win their division next season.

In 2020, the Minnesota Vikings will be looking to win their third NFC North title since Mike Zimmer took over as the team’s head coach in 2014. Standing in the Vikings’ way will likely be the Green Bay Packers, who finished on top of the division last season.

Minnesota, along with the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, will be attempting to make sure Green Bay doesn’t become the first NFC North team since 2015 to win the division in back-to-back years.

Despite the Vikings expecting a number of their core players back from a 2019 team that won 10 games, one former NFL player doesn’t think the purple and gold will be sitting on top of the NFC North mountain next season.

LaDainian Tomlinson not predicting the Minnesota Vikings to take back the NFC North.

Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson is very familiar with what it takes to win a division at the NFL level. Tomlinson was a part of a division champion five times during his career in the league.

Recently, he was asked if the Packers are still the favorites to win the NFC North heading into the 2020 season.

"“Yes, they are. Last time I checked, they still had the best quarterback in that division in Aaron Rodgers. Who, by the way, has a chip on his shoulder because (the Packers) did draft Jordon Love. Now, Aaron is going into his second season in Matt LeFleur’s offense. I really think he’s going to play his best football because of that. No. 1, he has a chip on his shoulder and No. 2, he’s in the second season of an offense that he’s going to know even better.”"

The national media tends to favor Green Bay for almost everything related to the NFC North, regardless of how much the other teams in the division have improved. So Tomlinson’s comments shouldn’t come as a big shock to anyone.

As long as Aaron Rodgers is the Packers’ starting quarterback, don’t expect much of this talk to change anytime soon. That’s fine though since it gives Mike Zimmer and the Vikings more motivation to win their division in 2020.

For some reason, Minnesota has performed better at times in the past when the doubts are high. With Tomlinson and others already counting them out, the list of doubters is only growing larger as the upcoming season approaches. Will it result in the Vikings proving everyone wrong?