NFL Power Rankings: With 4 wins in their last 5 games, where will the Bears rank?

It might be too little, too late for the 2019 Chicago Bears, but with three straight wins and four wins in their last five games, the Bears are fighting to make the NFC playoff picture interesting. The only thing the Bears can control is what’s in front of them, and taking things week to week has been working the last month. Just know that a wildcard spot and winning the NFC North is still a possibility and even if the Bears are eliminated, battling for a winning record would be a good spring board to the 2020 season.

But enough about 2020, let’s all keep our fingers crossed for the dominoes to fall perfectly for the Bears to get back in the postseason, and let’s see how the Bears are viewed nationally by the NFL Power Rankers.

ESPN has the Bears up 4 sports to 14th, and they’ve shared their Football Power Index ratings for each phase for each team.

Offense: 23rd
Defense: 4th
Special teams: 31st

Until recently, everything went wrong for the Bears’ offense. Poor quarterback play, uneven playcalling, bad blocking, poor execution ... you name it, the Bears were guilty of it. The past couple of weeks have been a different story, but the Bears need tons of luck to reach the playoffs. The defense turned out to be as good as expected, even without Pro Bowl defensive tackle Akiem Hicks (elbow) for much of the year. The Bears still struggle on special teams, which is worrisome, especially after the club spent the entire offseason searching for a kicker. -- Jeff Dickerson

CBS Sports has the Bears up 2 spots to 15th.

The offense has come alive to give them some playoff hopes, ever so faint. But Mitch Trubisky has made big strides.

Here’s how Sports Illustrated has it for the Bears.

20. CHICAGO BEARS (7-6)

Previous rank: T-21

Points in poll: 93

Highest-place vote: 16 (1 voter)

Lowest-place vote: 24 (1 voter)

Last week’s result: Beat Dallas, 31-24

This week: at Green Bay

Teams seem to beat the Cowboys this year by building a lead and sitting on it while Dallas stumbles around and shoots themselves in the foot—and that’s exactly what the Bears did. How’d the Cowboys fare on their second through seventh drives? Punt, punt, missed FG, halftime, punt, punt. Bears drives two through seven? 24 total points.

I guess beating the Cowboys in prime time wasn’t a big deal to the SI voters, but if that’s the case, then why do they have Dallas only falling one spot to 14th overall?

The Sporting News has the Bears like this.

14. Chicago Bears, 7-6 (17)

The Bears are seeing the Mitchell Trubisky they expected to see earlier in the season, and much of it is the product of a more favorable schedule. They have him running again, which in turn has him passing with more confidence. Don’t sleep on the QB leading them back to the playoffs.

Here’s how Yahoo Sports has it.

14. Chicago Bears (7-6, LW: 17)

We know what’s happening right? Mitchell Trubisky is playing just well enough to end this season to make the Bears give him another season. Maybe that’ll work out as they hope. Maybe.

The USA Today has it like this.

14. Bears (16): Mitchell Trubisky has been on fire while orchestrating four wins in five weeks. But looking like too little, too late for reigning NFC North champs.

NFL.com has the Bears up to 14th from 18th a week ago.

The Bears know they’ve disappointed their fanbase this season, so they’ve splurged on a thoughtful Christmas gift: relevant football in December. Chicago kept itself alive in the NFC playoff hunt with an impressive 31-24 win over the Cowboys that was far more one-sided than the final score indicates. Mitchell Trubisky continued his late-season resurgence, throwing three touchdown passes and running for another score. The former first-round pick has clearly regained his confidence, and it’s resulting in the type of play that made the Bears so optimistic coming out of last season. It wasn’t all good news, though: Linebacker Roquan Smith exited the game with a pectoral injury that ends his season. Above .500 for the first time since mid-October, the Bears head to Lambeau Field for a meeting with the NFC North-leading Packers. A win there, and Chicago becomes a big story in the NFC.

The silver lining in this season has been the Bears playing meaningful games in December. In order to be a franchise that has some long term success, that’s a must, and that makes it two years of the Matt Nagy era where December matters.