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We take our weekly trip around the interwebs to see where various NFL "experts" rank the Chicago Bears in their NFL Power Rankings.
The Bears lost another game to fall to 1-5, but there is some hope on the horizon. Pernell McPhee returned on Thursday, Jay Cutler is back this week, Jeremy Langford is back as well, but we're still awaiting news on the Chicago's injured offensive guards.
Then there's this persistent Alshon Jeffery trade rumor that seems to have some traction.
Just when the Bears start to get some good news, some bad news creeps up and kicks them while ther're down.
Maybe the Bears are due some good fortune and they'll figure out a way to knock off the Vikings on Monday Night Football.
Here's how a few reputable sites around the interwebs have the Bears ranked.
| PUBLICATION | THIS WEEK |
LAST WEEK |
THE SKINNY |
| WCG* | 30* | 29 | Chicago drops one slot after losing to Green Bay, but this positioning gets an asterisk. 30th assumes that Jay Cutler is able to start this week against Minnesota. If Cutler can't go, this ranking instantly changes to 32, dead last. |
| SB Nation | 30 | 30 | The Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, and Cleveland Browns have been at the bottom of the power rankings for a while and all still look like they belong there. |
| Sports Illustrated | 30 | 30 | The Bears host Minnesota on Halloween night, on the day between Games 5 and 6 of the World Series. There may not be a football game Chicago fans will have cared about less in the history of their longstanding NFL franchise. |
| NFL.com | 31 | 31 | Matt Barkley ... starting versus the Vikings defense ... in Week 8. If reading that felt as awful as it did to type, be thankful Jay Cutler was cleared to play as of Monday -- although that sentence has its own distasteful qualities. Brian Hoyer's broken left arm means he departs the season without having struggled. Why is that relevant? Because if the Bears brass is impressed with what it saw in Hoyer, Chicago could draft a quarterback and retain Hoyer over Cutler. The organization has already paid out most of Cutler's guaranteed money, which means the guaranteed money is no longer an impediment to moving on. Question is, what's the plan? |
| ESPN | 30 | 30 | QB Jay Cutler is back. He was hurt on Monday night in Week 2 and he'll make his return on Monday night in Week 8. He'll have to face the Vikings, against whom he has lost three straight. They boast a defense with the most takeaways and fewest points and yards allowed this season. Good luck with that. |
| CBS Sports | 30 | 30 | Now they are down to Matt Barkley at quarterback. This is not a good team right now, and begs this question: Will John Fox be in trouble? |
| USA Today | 30 | 30 | Jay Cutler returns to an offense that made tremendous strides without him. We expect a complete 180 Monday against an angry Minnesota defense. |
| Yahoo | 30 | 30 | The Bears have to turn back to Jay Cutler now that Brian Hoyer is on injured reserve. That's not uncomfortable or anything. |
| FOX | 30 | 30 | Brian Hoyer had been playing extremely well for the Bears despite leading them to just one win, but it's back to Jay Cutler for Chicago. Cutler has been cleared to play after recovering from a thumb injury, and there is plenty riding on these final nine games. Unfortunately, there's almost no hope for the Bears as a team given their injuries and lack of talent. It showed last week against the Packers. |
What do you guys think about the Bears' ranking this week?
*The reason Ken does our WCG Power Rankings a day later than the rest is he ACTUALLY watches all the games!