Here are three big questions the Bears must try to answer
The Bears are just 20 days away from the start of what appears to be a much more challenging schedule than they faced last season, when they raced to a 7-0 start while facing just one team that finished with a winning record the year before.
This year the Bears open in San Diego against the Chargers, whose 14-2 record in 2006 was the best in the NFL. Dallas and Kansas City, both of which made the playoffs last season, follow. The Bears' seventh game this season is at Philadelphia, against the defending NFC East champs, the Eagles, who have a healthy Donovan McNabb back at quarterback.
While another 7-0 start for Lovie Smith's team is doubtful, the Bears are huge favorites to rule the NFC North, which they dominated last season, winning by 5 games over the Packers.
Despite the positive (and well-deserved) hype that has surrounded the Bears' just-concluded training camp, there are some concerns and three key questions that must be answered:
Q. What if Cedric Benson fails to produce?
A. Worrying that Benson will be a bust, a la Rashaan Salaam or Curtis Enis, is a waste of time. True, Benson may be a bit quirky, but he's more talented than either of those first-round flops, and he's running behind a solid veteran line that, while far from the league's best, may be its most cohesive.
The bigger concern is an injury to Benson. The Bears' depth is questionable, which truly could imperil another Super Bowl run. The only NFL battle-tested backup is Adrian Peterson, who has always been a reliable fill-in but has never carried the ball more than 76 times in an NFL season.
Rookie Garrett Wolfe was a workhorse at NIU, but at 5-foot-7 and 185 pounds, he's never going to be a No. 1 ball carrier in the NFL.
Q. Is the offensive line too old to get the job done?
A. It is the oldest starting group in the NFL, but none of its members is getting mail from the AARP yet.
Still, Ruben Brown is 35, Fred Miller 34, John Tait 32 and Olin Kreutz 30. Football players tend to start breaking down physically at that age.
Brown has missed 11 games over the past three seasons, but he was voted to his ninth Pro Bowl last season. Miller has missed just one start in the past eight years, Kreutz has missed one start in the past six years (after an appendectomy) and Tait has missed six starts in his three previous seasons with the Bears.
At their ages, not one of them is getting any better, but their play hasn't slipped much either, so their age and proficiency isn't a worry.
A problem could arise if any of them are sidelined for a significant amount of time, though. Their backups are viewed as long-range answers and could be exposed as weak links if called on for any length of time.
The strength of the line is its cohesion, and if any starter goes down, so does the effectiveness of the group.
Q. Can the Bears safeties stop the big play?
A. For all the thrills that the numerous home-run balls from Rex Grossman to Devin Hester or Bernard Berrian provided during training camp, they should have also raised concerns about the ability of veteran safeties Adam Archuleta and Mike Brown to stop the big play and to keep up with younger, faster wide receivers.
Preventing those concerns from becoming problems will be the key for the Bears making it back to the Super Bowl.