Chicago Bears: Where does the team rank nationally heading into Week 7?
The Chicago Bears are finally seeing some national recognition now
As Week 7 games are about to kick off this morning, the Chicago Bears are finally seeing some respect by national media outlets. The team is 5-1 on the season and leading the NFC North. The Chicago Bears are also second in the NFC behind the undefeated Seattle Seahawks. The team’s wins may not have been very pretty, but starting the season with only one loss in six weeks is still impressive no matter the opponent or how the team came away victorious.
The Chicago Bears defense really came into form versus the Carolina Panthers last week. Multiple sacks, defensive stops and turnovers have been more consistent for this defense as of late despite a slow statistical start. The defense has moved into fifth in defensive DVOA for the season. The run defense has looked better too as the Bears are now 11th in DVOA versus the run and second versus the pass. The Bears defense has only allowed 19.3 points per game in 2020.
Unfortunately, the Chicago Bears offense is only averaging 21.3 points scored per game as they rank 27th in the NFL. As you can see, they are averaging just enough points more than the defense has been allowing. This is a recipe for disaster and the reason why the team has not earned enough respect from the national media.
The offense has been anemic, to say the least. The running game has struggled behind the offensive line again and the passing game has only been effective in spurts. The only hope is that Matt Nagy and Nick Foles continue to develop chemistry with play calling and Foles starts to be more consistent with his downfield accuracy. Maybe Ryan Pace should make a few calls and look to lock down a trade before the trade deadline to help the offense get over the hump?
Here is how the national media has the Chicago Bears ranked in Week 7
ESPN – Current Ranking: 11 (Previous 13)
ESPN had started giving the Chicago Bears respect a couple of weeks ago. Their ranking has been somewhat fair since after Week 4. This is unlike some of ESPN’s counterparts. This week ESPN takes a look at teams’ most devastating injuries in 2020 and lists Tarik Cohen. As much as I love Cohen, I think losing James Daniels will be more of a negative impact on this team than losing Cohen.
CBS – Current Ranking: 6 (Previous 9)
Pete Prisco of CBS discusses the Chicago Bears more in-depth in his intro this week. He talks about how even though he does not believe the Bears are good enough to be sixth in his power rankings, the Bears have at least earned it being 5-1 on the season. I think that’s a fair assessment and until the offense proves they can play against the better teams, the defense cannot keep this team on such a hot streak.
NFL.com – Current Ranking: 11 (Previous 16)
When it comes to these NFL power rankings, NFL.com has easily been the worst — at least in regards to the Chicago Bears. The national media outlet finally has the Bears ranked more appropriately at 11th (same as ESPN), however, it took them too long to move the Bears up. I have found these ranking by far the worst overall too. Tampa Bay is sixth and was sixth last week too despite the Bears beating Tom Brady‘s Bucs in Week 5. Kind of ridiculous.
Adam Hoge (NBC Chicago) – Current Ranking: 7 (Previous 11)
The Chicago Bears insider (who I have found to be the best in these rankings overall) has the Bears up to seventh after previously being 11th last week. Adam Hoge, like most of us, believes the Bears offense is holding this team back from being a Super Bowl contender.
Next. 9 Observations of Bears heading into Week 7. dark
Final Thoughts:
These power rankings mean literally nothing, but they are still fun to compare and discuss. If you were to give this team an honest assessment among the NFL, where would you rank them? Me personally, I think I would have them somewhere in the eight to 10 range and honestly, I too would have the Packers ahead of the Bears in my power rankings. Yes, I threw up a little.