USA Today confused on their latest NFL Power Rankings

It’s okay.

It happens to the best of us.

We all make mistakes from time to time.

I remember one time I thought that Dion Sims was going to be a fine addition to the tight end room of the Chicago Bears. Yep. I even doubled down on the take after his first disappointing season in Chicago by saying there was a good possibility he could make an impact last season.

He didn’t.

So when I read such an obvious error in a national publication like the USA Today, I could get all fired up at an obvious attempt to troll a fanbase in such a large market, or just assume it was a mistake.

The USA Today put out a power ranking a couple weeks ago, and then they they revealed another one earlier today.

The one from a couple weeks back was their actual Power Ranking, and they had the Bears at 13.

13. Bears (7): Loss of Vic Fangio might be catastrophic — not only was defense suffocating, it put a lot of points on board for club with pedestrian offense.

It’s easy to assume the defense could slip a bit with Fangio in Denver, but we’re still talking the number one defense in the NFL that returns 10 starters. Why can’t they improve? That defense has some young ascending players, and none of them would be considered on the downside of their careers.

But let’s assume they do slip a smidge. Why can’t we also assume that the “pedestrian” offense will improve in the second year of the system? Would a better offense help offset the impact of a dominating defense not being as dominant?

I think so.

That power ranking also has the Bears as third in the NFC North. That’s just laughable. They may as well go full-troll and have the Lions above the Bears too.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking about what I said earlier when I wrote that the USA Today simply made a mistake and they weren't trying to troll us.

Yeah, I was talking about their other power ranking, the one I just spotlighted is an obvious troll-job. This next one is likely just a mistake since they also have the Bears ranked thirteenth.

In what universe is the Bears’ uniform the 13th ranked uni in the NFL?

13. Chicago Bears: Old school. Pure. Love the retention of George Halas’ initials on the left shoulder. Wouldn’t mind seeing the white “C” logo from the Butkus and Sayers years now and again.

If we were talking the 1940s throwback, that’d be a top three pick easy, but even the classic navy home jersey is a classic deserving of no less than a top 10 place.

What are your thoughts on either power ranking?