With the NFL preseason action coming to a close soon, it's time to start ramping things up for the regular season. Things are about to get real, and we're going to see if the Chicago Bears truly did improve enough as many fans believe they did.
At the moment, though, where do the Bears currently stand in comparison to the rest of the NFC North?
Full disclosure: before we get into the rankings, just know that this division is so close and so wide open, that the rankings don't do it justice. There is a small margin between each one of these teams, and power ranking them is a difficult task.
To make it a little more interesting, let's give them each a rating out of 100, just to prove how close the division is at the moment.
4. Green Bay Packers - 76
First and foremost, the Packers lost the best player on their team this past offseason in quarterback Aaron Rodgers. That immediately downgrades this roster in a big way. Green Bay had a solid draft, and a few of their rookies could have an immediate impact right away, such as wide receiver Jayden Reed, who just caught his first touchdown pass of the preseason.
Replacing Rodgers is the big story, with Jordan Love, who finally gets his shot. Love has had some good moments so far in the preseason, but the question still remains whether he can perform against the opposition's starters week-in and week-out.
A mediocre defense that finished in the middle of the pack last year, the Packers were especially bad against the run. In a division that figures to run the ball quite often, with the Vikings maybe running it the least, the Packers have their work cut out for them. There are a lot of questions without Rodgers, thus they sit at the bottom right now.