Chicago Bears: Hot takes on Justin Fields, Ryan Pace, and more
By Evan Bruner
Hot take: The Bears are the worst team in the NFC North
Are the Bears the worst team in the NFC North?
Outside of Green Bay being the clear favorite, the rest of the NFC North is a bit of a mystery. The Vikings could easily be 3-0, but it’s year four of the Kirk Cousins experience, and Minnesota is still hasn’t come close to recreating their run in 2017. The Lions are 0-3 but have also been thrown a brutal stretch of games to start the season, and Chicago is 1-2, with their two losses coming by a combined total of 40 points. It’s hard to have a definitive ranking of these three teams this early in the season.
The Bears’ week 4 game against the Lions will tell us a lot
The Bears’ first divisional game of the year comes against the team that most experts picked to finish in last. The Lions enter the game at 0-3 after a heartbreaking loss to the Ravens last week. Their other two losses came to the Packers on Monday Night Football and the San Francisco 49ers. Considering that all three of these teams are likely to be in the playoffs, it’s hard to hold their record against them. If the Bears lose this game, then there is a real possibility they could finish last in the division, which looks even worse when you remember they don’t have their first-round pick in the upcoming draft.
It’s been how the Bears have lost that has been concerning
Losing to the Rams and Browns is nothing to be ashamed of. Both teams have real shots at making the Super Bowl. It’s been the lopsided fashion of the losses that have worried fans. Still, playing a good team doesn’t excuse a 20 point loss or putting up less than 50 yards of total offense.
Bottom line: It’s hard to make sense of what’s been a very chaotic division so far this season. The Bears can take some solace in losing to good teams, but nothing is out of the question if the offense can’t pick it up.