NFL Power Rankings: Who are the 3-1 Chicago Bears?

You had to expect a drop in the power rankings to come for the Chicago Bears after losing to the Indianapolis Colts 19 to 11. And since it was their first game against, what appears to be a good team, you had to expect questions to pop up about whether or not this 3-1 Bears group is even any good at all.

Three narrow wins against subpar competition then getting smacked around against the Colts is not a good look for this team.

The Nick Foles experience is still early, but he and Matt Nagy need to show some strides this Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Let’s check in on where the Power Rankers have the Bears this week.

NFL.com dropped the Bears a whopping 6 spots to 22!

Nick Foles might not be the savior after all. Making his first start for the Bears after the prior Sunday’s impressive relief performance, Foles looked less like the Eagles’ Super Bowl hero and more like the guy who stumbled through a lost season with the Jaguars. Foles inspired little confidence leading a bland Bears attack that managed just 269 total yards against a Colts defense that has been the league’s stingiest this season. A late touchdown pass to Allen Robinson (the lone bright spot) put some lipstick on the pig, but the Bears delivered a performance that validated every critic who didn’t take the team’s 3-0 start seriously. More trouble looms for the offense with the surging Bucs up next on Thursday night.

USA Today is holding the Bears steady this week.

18. Bears (18): With so much focus on their quarterbacks, you might’ve lost sight of fact that not one Chicago player has run a ball into the end zone in 2020.

The Touchdown Wire has it like this.

16. Chicago Bears (3-1. Last week: 14)

There are two kinds of successful quarterbacks in the NFL: Starters and relievers. Starters define their teams over the seasons, while relievers are better able to come in for failed or injured starters and make things happen for a more limited amount of time.

As if we didn’t already know, Nick Foles is a reliever. And against the Colts’ top defense on Sunday, Foles got shelled for several figurative home runs in a 19-11. Foles completed 26 of 42 passes for 249 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and very little of the tight-window prowess he had displayed against the Falcons in Week 3 in relief of the benched Mitchell Trubisky. Of course, the difference between the Falcons’ defense and the Colts’ defense is the relative difference between Foles and a first-tier starter. Now, Foles has little time to prepare for the Buccaneers’ opportunistic defense — and a Super Bowl LII rematch with Tom Brady — on Thursday night.

Yahoo Sports has the Bears down a couple spots too.

17. Chicago Bears (3-1, LW: 15)

The Bears offense can be hard to watch. It seems like half of it is Allen Robinson making circus catches. Nick Foles didn’t make it look any better on Sunday. They can win a few games when the defense plays well and/or when Foles is on one of his hot streaks, but many weeks, it won’t be pretty.

Here’s how the Pro Football Network has it.

15) Chicago Bears (3-1)

We kick off the top 15 of our Week 5 NFL Power Rankings with the Chicago Bears. In their first loss of the season, Chicago’s defense played quite well against the Colts but got no help. The Bears scored a late touchdown against a soft prevent defense, but overall were totally dominated on that side of the ball.

ESPN has the Bears down one spot this week,

15. Chicago Bears (3-1) - Week 4 ranking: 14

FPI chance to make playoffs: 40.0%

The Bears are the softest 3-1 team in the NFL. It took a pair of improbable comebacks for Chicago to beat doormats Detroit and Atlanta, and the Bears nearly blew a 17-point lead versus the Giants, so this is too high. Sunday’s ugly 19-11 loss to the Colts confirmed that the Bears are not ready for prime time. Maybe — by virtue of getting off to such a good start — the Bears manage to sneak into the playoffs, but those odds are no higher than 25%. — Jeff Dickerson

The Sporting News has it like this.

15. Chicago Bears 3-1 (12)

The Bears don’t really have a quarterback answer between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles. The inconsistency of their running game and run defense also are real concerns to think they’re playoff pretenders.

It’s hard to argue with any of thee assessments, but the Bears will have their chance to make at statement on Thursday in prime time.