Are the Chicago Bears ranked correctly in Week 7 ESPN Power Rankings?

We have not touched on the NFL power rankings very much here at Bear Goggles On. These lists are very subjective, but also very fun to examine. There are plenty of power rankings out there that you can choose to take a look at each week. Last year I looked into ESPN, NFL and CBS. Then I included Adam Hoge’s weekly power rankings to get a more local perspective.

If enough readers want me to compile these into one large group (not sure Hoge is doing his this year) again this year for comparison purposes, I’d be more than happy to do so. In the meantime, I am going to just take a quick look at the ESPN rankings and see where the Chicago Bears fall in their power rankings as the team heads into Week 7 versus the Buccaneers.

Did ESPN correctly rank the Chicago Bears in their Week 7 Power Rankings?

Looking at ESPN’s Week 7 power rankings, the Chicago Bears fell from 16th in the NFL down to 19th. ESPN Bears reporter, Jeff Dickerson had this to say about our beloved Bears:

"The Bears are a better team than they showed in Week 1 versus the Rams, but this past Sunday’s loss to the visiting Packers reinforced the fact that Chicago struggles to beat quality opponents."

After a 24-14 loss to the Packers, I can completely agree with his statement. This Chicago Bears team is frustrating to watch as usual. The thing is, the team was in this game (even though it didn’t feel like it) until the fourth quarter. The offense just could not put up any points. Many things could be pointed as the reason why Chicago struggled.

The referees did not call a very good game, including a missed call on an offsides penalty that not only turned the tides of this game but also racked up another interception that shouldn’t be on his stat sheet. That said, Fields did not play his best game either. The wide receivers didn’t help with some key drops and Aaron Rodgers just did what Aaron Rodgers does and took the game over late.

Is 19th in the NFL a good ranking for Chicago? I believe it is. Teams ranked slightly above them include the San Francisco 49ers, (18), Carolina Panthers (17), Minnesota Vikings (16) and Pittsburgh Steelers. Teams ranked slightly below them include the Denver Broncos (20), New England Patriots (21), Indianapolis Colts (22) and Seattle Seahawks (23).

I could make an argument that Chicago could be better than the four teams ahead of them. I could also make an argument that they could be worse than some of the teams below them. It won’t help their cause if they get embarrassed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend — which is highly likely.