Another set of preseason rankings from a Dallas paper. The Bears did come out as the first team in the NFC in this set and of course he can give no reason other to state what everybody else has said.
The Bears have not handled success well. They traded 1,000-yard rusher Thomas Jones, and Pro Bowl LB Lance Briggs and pass rusher Alex Brown would like to follow him out of town. Both have asked to be traded. The Bears reached the Super Bowl with rookie Devin Hester setting an NFL record with six return touchdowns. They can't bank on that type of good fortune on special teams again. Chicago needs Rex Grossman to carry more of the load in 2007.
The two NFC teams that rank higher are Philadelphia, which is a pure joke, and New Orleans.