Just over 48 hours until the first game of the season. We're finally almost there. Let's try to boil down our previews for each team into a question that the offense must answer and a question that the defense must answer. 

Chicago Bears

Is Justin Fields a plus passer?

Notice that the questions specifically asks if Fields is a plus passer. We've discussed Fields' ability as a runner ad nauseum, and at one point, I even said it makes him the best QB in the North right now, his ability as a passer is what will make or break his NFL career. So far, he has been historically bad. 

There are caveats to that, of course. The best receiver he has played with, Darnell Mooney, is currently on the trade block. And he hasn't played with anything approaching a good NFL offensive line. This season he'll at least have DJ Moore, an average o-line, and some other weapons on offense. If he can put it all together, the Bears' offense will be a lot better than any of us think.

How many years away is this defense? 

The issue with the Bears' defense last year probably wasn't coaching. The new regime systematically dumped all of its good defensive players. They even proved this was their intent by keeping Eddie Jackson, who is not good but is paid like he is. 

The front office put a lot of energy into being able to evaluate whether Fields is a viable NFL passer, by adding weapons and other support; the real question is whether they've put enough energy into finding out if Matt Eberflus & co can run an NFL team with a great defense. They certainly invested a lot, making Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards a few of the highest-paid linebackers in the NFL. Edmunds was a disaster in the NFL and Edwards has a lot of NFL intelligence and not much athletic talent.  

Minnesota Vikings

Can Kirk Cousins win a big game?

If you just looked at Cousin's career stats, you'd think he was easily one of the ten best QBs of his era. The problem is that he's never won a big game. He's hardly even won Sunday Night Football games. 

I know QB wins isn't a real stat, but the QB is the most important part of the team, by far, the biggest contributor to wins and losses and when everyone knows there's a big game monkey on his back, it affects the team. Did anyone think the Vikings would win a playoff game last year? They went 13-3 and then lost to Daniel Jones and the Giants in round one. Gross. 

Can the secondary hold up in Brian Flores' scheme?

The Flores scheme in Miami was dominated by heavy blitzing and heavy man coverage. The blitzing was unique and generated a lot of pressure, but the corners were almost always on islands. The Vikings starting corners on the outside will probably be Akayleb Evans, a 4th round pick last year who had a sub-50 PFF grade in 2022, and Mekhi Blackmon, a third-round rookie. Manning the slot will be Byron Murphy, who was touted as a zone-only boundary corner coming out of college and has been just alright in the NFL. At safety, 57-year-old Harrison Smith is joined by Camryn Bynum, who wasn't graded among the top 64 safeties by PFF last year. 

It's an objectively rough secondary led by a pretty good coach. It will put Flores' schematic ability to the test. Flores' mentor, Bill Belichick, is widely known for his ability to change defenses. One week he plays a cover-2 heavy 4-3 scheme, the next it's all odd fronts in dime playing cover-1. Flores showed creativity bringing the "rain" blitz scheme to the NFL in Miami, he'll need to show some more devising a way to best use his "talent" in Minnesota this season. 

Detroit Lions

Who will help the Sun God on offense?

We could've asked something about Jared Goff, who is sort of a lower-middle-class man's Kirk Cousins, but let's make it interesting. The candidates are Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams (eventually), David Montgomery, and maybe Kalif Raymond. If you've read this page anytime recently, you'll know what I think about most of these players.

Gibbs is too small, LaPorta is a rookie tight end, Williams has been a disappointment, Montgomery is bad, and Kalif Raymond is Kalif Raymond. If the Lions' offense is going to keep the momentum it established as a top-5 offense with a top-25 QB last season, at least one or two of those players will need to step up and play at a pro-bowl level. It's possible, and Ben Johnson has shown he can make it happen, but I don't see it yet.  

Which defense will Aaron Glenn run?

Glenn's time in Detroit has been a story of two defenses: the press-man and pressure-heavy scheme and the 4-man-rush with umbrella coverage that Glenn started running last season after seeing basically every other team in the NFL run it. The defense was substantially better playing the latter scheme, but now Glenn has had several off-seasons to personally influence the selection of defensive talent. He was a corner when he played and most of his coaching history has been in the Gregg Williams tree, I'm sure it feels foreign to him to play a soft coverage-based defense. 

If he does decide to revert back to the Saints-style scheme, the next question we have is the same one that we're asking about Minnesota. The Lions have a few better players, namely Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Brian Branch, Cam Sutton, and Kerby Joseph, but can those guys hold up on islands? Most of Sutton's career has been in zone defense in Pittsburgh, CGJ is playing out of position, Branch is a below-average athlete, and Kerby Joseph is a box-safety.