The Chicago Bears have dropped their last two games and now sit at 3-2. They lost to the Detroit Lions and the New Orleans Saints by eight points apiece on consecutive Sundays. They showed flashes of ineptitude in each game, but they also flashed promise.
I think this is a team that is still trying to find their way. The New York Giants are awaiting this Thursday Night in a Prime Time match-up, so the opportunity to right the ship is there.
We'll start our trip around the NFL Power Rankings like we always do, with the Mothership, SB Nation. They have the Bears at 11, and here's what they had to say.
The eight points separating the Bears and the Saints in the final score doesn't tell the full story. Chicago was on its heels all afternoon. Their highest win probability at any point in the game came on the opening kickoff. After the game, Marc Trestman bemoaned his offense's inability to move the ball, but that was never really the Bears' biggest problem in this one. The defense lost another defensive tackle this week, with Nate Collins joining Henry Melton on the injury list. Worse, veterans like Lance Briggs were duped on more than one occasion by a sly Saints offense.
I agree, the Bears were on their heels all afternoon, and they only lost by eight. Glass half full people!
Sticking with a few other of our sister sites, Behind the Steel Curtain has Chicago at 13. And we have our first shot at Jay Cutler too!
Losing to the Saints isn't shameful by any means, but willfully employing Jay Cutler is. Bears fans don't even like him.
We don't? I guess not if the Huffington Post said so back in February.
Now on to the Mile High Report, and they dropped the Bears nine sports to 14. Oh, look, another shot at Jay.
I do not miss Jay Cutler one bit. How many times would he rip off several huge games and get us all excited about maybe being contenders only to suck it up for several more weeks and knock us out of contention? Well, the Bears were 3-0 and sitting pretty. Now? 3-2 and reeling. The Bears are apparently who we thought they were.
That darn Jay Cutler and his 24-33, 358 yards, and 2 TDs. Damn him for losing to the Saints!!!
Over at Revenge Of The Birds, they see the Bears as the number ten team, only down one spot.
Jay Cutler and the Bears finally have a viable target opposite Brandon Marshall in Alshon Jeffery who set franchise-record numbers against the Saints but couldn't keep up. The NFC North is looking very tough and hard to call.
They must not have received the memo to blame something on Jay Cutler. Damn them and their unbiasedness!
The fellas at Cincy Jungle actually moved the Bears up one spot, to five.
The Bears go where Jay Cutler goes. At times he looks outstanding, and lately he has been running for his life.
I guess in their eyes, losing to the undefeated Saints wasn't that bad. The Bears do need to tighten up their pass protection though.
The SBN site that covers the New York Giants, Big Blue View, have the Giants at #30 and the Bears at eleven.
Two losses in a row for Chicago, but fortunately they'll get the hapless Giants on Thursday night. (LW: 10)
Pat Kirwan of CBS Sports has the Bears at 12.
Which Chicago team is going to show up each week? It seems like pass rush pressure makes Jay Cutler look ordinary at times even though he threw for 358 yards this past week in a loss. In his two previous home games he was sacked one time in 72 pass plays. In the home loss to New Orleans he was sacked three times and hit another seven times in 36 pass plays.
Over at Fanspeak they have the Bears falling five, down to 12.
Another tough loss for the Bears Sunday to the undefeated Saints. So in fairness to them, it was against arguably the toughest team in the NFC. This Thursday they host the Giants, so they have a good chance to get back in the win column.
The consensus is that the Giants suck, I sure hope the Bears don't lose on TNF.
Boo Ya! ESPN drops the Bears one, down to 10.
Brandon Marshall's five targets Sunday accounted for 15 percent of Bears passes, lowest since Marshall joined the team. The Bears are 0-4 when Marshall's targeted on fewer than 20 percent of passes.
So that's why Cutler always throws it his way.
Brian Billick of FOX Sports drops Chicago to 11.
Alshon Jeffery now holds the Bears franchise record for receiving yards in a single game with 218 in a loss on Sunday.
Alshon Jeffery has really taken a step in play from year one to year two.
The Shutdown Corner from everyone's favorite, Yahoo Sports, keeps the Bears steady at number ten.
The Saints are really good this year, so you can't dock the Bears too much for losing last week. They're still a good team. Just not as good as New Orleans. A lot of teams can say the same.
That's some good and honest perspective from the Yahoo.
What do you think about the Bears rankings this week?
More from Windy City Gridiron:
- Ten Thoughts on the NFL: Chicago Bears and beyond
- The Bears Den: October 08, 2013 - Week 6 news and notes
- Bears-Saints report card
- Chicago Bears Injury Update: DT Nate Collins done for the season
- Chicago Bears snap count breakdown vs the New Orleans Saints
- Bears Vs Saints: Notes, Scribbles and Things Jotted Down