Pick: Chicago Bears
For the purposes of this debate, I’m counting the Bears as “buzzy” because of how hot they were from November on last year, with Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson giving Chicagoans legitimate hope that their team finally has the superpowered QB-head coach combo that every fan base dreams of. There are legitimate reasons to fear a regression, namely the likelihood that the Bears won’t pull off so many miracle comebacks and lucky-bounce takeaways again. The scariest issue is the step-down on the O-line, with left tackle Ozzy Trapilo‘s torn patellar tendon and center Drew Dalman’s abrupt retirement leaving key vacancies up front. Potential spottiness in that unit is not something to just hand-wave away, knowing how much it seemed to impact Williams as a rookie. Then again, as Football Challenges go, that might seem easy to Johnson after leading the Bears to their first playoff win since January of 2011. The offense was a legit powerhouse from Week 9 on, ranking fourth in the NFL in EPA per play (0.06), in the vicinity of true contenders like the Rams (No. 1), Patriots (No. 2) and 49ers (No. 3). The key performers on that side of the ball (Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, D’Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai) are all back. I feel comfortable buying in on that unit to drive the bus again.