Chicago Bears: One national media outlet’s power rankings are trash

The Chicago Bears deserved to drop, but one of the power rankings are trash

Last week I spoke about how the Mitch Trubisky era is over in Chicago. Well, Mitch…do not get too comfortable riding the bench just yet. Yikes. Nothing we saw last Sunday vs the Colts was impressive. Nick Foles hit some decent deep balls that honestly I am not sure Trubisky would complete, but outside of a few solid plays, Foles was very unimpressive in his first start. His second start for the Chicago Bears was admittedly better but there were some awful moments.

The thing is, we still need to remain calm. I was the same person that said we needed to slow down and err on the side of caution after Foles came in off the bench in the third quarter and essentially threw five touchdown passes (only three counted) to beat the Atlanta Falcons. I am still being patient after two shaky performances that have led to a 1-1 record for Foles as a starter.

With a short week, I was unable to dive into the national media power rankings as usual, but I could not go without calling out one of the national three power rankings as we headed into Week 5. The Chicago Bears already beat Tom Brady‘s injury-riddled Buccaneers this week, but even before we knew the outcome of that game, one of the three power rankings we have been following continues to be a joke.

Here is a snapshot of where the other power rankings had the Chicago Bears as we head into Sunday’s Week 5 games. (Before the Thursday game)

ESPN – Chicago Bears ranked 15th (previous 14th)

CBS – Chicago Bears ranked 14th (previous 10th)

NBC / Adam Hoge – Chicago Bears ranked 14th (previous 13th)

As you can see, ESPN, CBS and local beat reporter Adam Hoge have the Chicago Bears ranked pretty much the same. Hoge did a better job leading up to these rankings, but it is nice to see ESPN and CBS get their act together.

Now for the national media power rankings that must be called out. Prior to Week 5, NFL.com moved the Chicago Bears down six spots from their prior week rankings to 22nd. I understand the Bears have not won their games in a pretty fashion, but they were 3-1 and that’s all that matters. The offense struggled to put up points versus a very good Colts defense. Does that mean the Colts are not as good in NFL.com eyes?

Well, they did move them down one spot to 12th, but hard to have the Colts at 12 while you move the Chicago Bears down to 22nd. Here is the more egregious part in these rankings. The Minnesota Vikings, the team that barely beat a bad Houston Texans team, were moved up three spots from 20th overall and are now 17th. That’s right, a 1-3 Vikings team was ranked five spots above the 3-1 Chicago Bears. This is pure craziness and just asinine.

I get it, the national media hates the Chicago Bears. I don’t understand why. This team is in a huge market and has a huge following. Everyone in the national media covering the NFL should be ecstatic when the Bears are relevant. As we all know, these rankings mean nothing. The Chicago Bears need to just win the games on their schedule. That said, if the players need any motivation, I would bring these rankings to their attention. Let’s see where the Bears rank after beating the beloved Tampa Bay Bucs.