NFL Power Rankings: Are the Chicago Bears good?

We saw a small uptick in the power rankings last week after the Chicago Bears knocked off the Baltimore Ravens in overtime. So I wonder if we’ll see a similar rise up the rankings now that the Bears dominated, what many considered, to be a very good Carolina panthers team.

We’ll take a peek around the interwebs to see just how the Bears are looked at this week from a national perspective.

We’ll start out with SB Nation’s “hope” rankings and notice that the disrespect is already starting. Sure they moved the Bears up five sports to 20th, but apparently the Bears didn’t do anything to win the game, it was the Panthers that blew it. Here’s what they said about the Bears latest victim, the Carolina Panthers.

A close loss to the team currently playing the best football in the NFL was one thing, but following that loss to the Eagles with a 17-3 loss to the Chicago Bears is something else entirely.

Chicago didn’t even do much of anything.

Mitchell Trubisky threw the ball only seven times, and the Bears had a grand total of five first downs. But they won just because the Panthers screwed up twice, and Eddie Jackson was all over it.

Here’s how Bleeding Green Nation has it.

24 - Chicago Bears (LW: 26) - Kudos to the Bears for winning back-to-back games for the first time since 2015. The only problem is that their model isn’t very sustainable. They’re not going to win with Mitchell Trubisky throwing SEVEN pass attempts. That’s some Tim Tebow stuff. Makes sense since John Fox is involved.

ESPN has the Bears up four, to 24th.

Mitchell Trubisky has completed a whopping 12 passes over the Bears' two-game win streak. Chicago's offense ranks worst in FPI. So while the team's recent successes might be nice, FPI still gives them only a less than 1 percent chance of winning the North.

Check out how Yahoo has it this week.

23. Chicago Bears (3-4, LW: 28)

I get every argument for why Mitch Trubisky attempted only seven passes Sunday. The Bears still want to win games. They also have nobody at receiver. However, I’m not sure if it’s great for Trubisky’s confidence to basically tell him not to do anything because it’ll be bad for the team’s chances to win. Mike Glennon could have handed off every down, if that’s all you want from a quarterback.

They must not have watched the Bears play with Glennon at QB. Sure, he could hand off, but he couldn’t execute the stretch play, and the threat that Trubisky puts on defenses with his ability to bootleg off of the stretch is forcing defenses to contain back side, which occasionally opens up cutback lanes for the Bears running backs.

NFL.com has the Bears up six to 15th!

Score two tugs on defense, and you lessen the burden on your rookie quarterback. One week after only throwing the football 16 times, offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains didn't let Mitchell Trubisky stretch his sea legs, er, Lake Michigan legs against the Panthers. Trubisky attempted seven passes. The last Bears quarterback to attempt seven passes in a start? Jim McMahon -- in 1984. Sid Luckman threw more than that.

Trubisky was the beneficiary of the same brand of defense both McMahon and Luckman enjoyed, however, as Chicago made Carolina look inept on offense all day. Vic Fangio's unit didn't merely score, his guys got to Cam Newton five times and held Carolina to 293 total yards.

Did they just compare the 2017 Bears’ D to some of the all time great Chicago defenses?

CBSSports.com said this about the Bears, “It's time to give the Chicago defense some props. They dominated the Panthers last week to get to 3-4,” and then they moved Chicago down a spot in their rankings to 23!

The Washington Post has it like this.

16. Chicago Bears (3-4) | Last Week’s Rank: 22

The Bears won a game in which rookie QB Mitchell Trubisky completed just four passes. It’s a great way to win if you can pull it off. At some point, however, the Bears will need more production from Trubisky if they’re going to keep it up.

The USA Today moved the Bears up 5 spots to 22nd.

Make it five weeks in a row Chicago's baby Monsters of Midway have limited opponents to 300 yards or fewer. Just keep handing off, Mitchell.

What are your thoughts on the Power Rankings?