Bear Digest

Bears and Caleb Williams Reverse Attitudes in Power Rankings

Power rankings had the Bears buried under the rubble of two straight losses following Week 3 but now after two wins over weak teams the trend is quite the opposite.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams gestures to the crowd as he leaves the field a winner for the third straight start at home Sunday.
Caleb Williams gestures to the crowd as he leaves the field a winner for the third straight start at home Sunday. / David Banks-Imagn Images
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Only two weeks ago the Bears had become a pin cushion for all sharp football commentary, TV talking heads were forecasting coach Matt Eberflus' firing and Caleb William was a near failure because he wasn't Jayden Daniels.

It didn't take much for power rankings to change drastically since the Bears were languishing near the league's bottom five. They made it as high as 11th in this week's rankings but the range of ratings is still huge as they also were 19th in one poll.

Williams' improved play against two weak defenses made all the difference, too.

Now the Williams band wagon is rolling, as well.

Whether it can keep rolling overseas Sunday morning against the Jaguars' struggling defense is the next question.

Two straight strong play-calling efforts from Shane Waldron have stopped the criticism of the Bears OC, as well.

If this progress continues, it might be as soon as next Tuesday when someone has the audacity to call the Chicago Bears a top 10 team in the NFL.

Here's where they're rated this week.

SI.com: 16th

They rose from 20th last week and Conor Orr points out the big game with downfield passing was trickery.

"Sixteen of Williams' 20 completions were either behind the line of scrimmage or no longer than 10 yards downfield, and yet Williams had by far his highest yards per attempt average of the season," Orr wrote.

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NFL.com: 17th

Eric Edholm has the Bears up five spots and acknowledges the low level of competition Sunday.

"But it's hard not to see the incremental progress from each of the past few games," Edholm wrote. "He looked far more poised -- and less openly frustrated—on Sunday."

CBS Sports: 11th

They're in rarified air here at No. 11. Never mind that they're still ranked lower than the rest of the NFC North teams by Pete Prisco, who wrote: "They are 3-2 and Caleb Williams is getting better by the week. This has to be considered a good start for head coach Matt Eberflus as they head to London to play the Jaguars."

The 33rd Team: 16th

Marcus Mosher seems sold now after rating them well down the board at 22nd last week.

"Caleb Williams has steadily improved in each of his five starts, and he was fantastic against the Panthers in Week 5," Mosher wrote.

He also said they've won nine straight at home. It's only eight, but who's counting when you're having fun?

ESPN: 17th

Up a more practical three spots after a win over a weak team, the weekly note is about fantasy ball and beat writer Courtney Cronin points out how D'Andre Swift has turned it around from "...a dismal start to the season in which he averaged 1.8 yards per carry in Weeks 1-3."

The Sporting News: 18th

Vinnie Iyer elevated them four spots and thinks it can get even better after this week.

"They can keep that up in London vs. the Jaguars with Caleb Williams staying hot," Iyer wrote.

NBC/Pro Football Talk: 18th

Up four spots, Mike Florio becomes Debbie Downer. "They’re getting better. But so is the rest of the division," he wrote.

So true, though.

Yahoo Sports: 15th

They moved up three spots and Frank Schwab thankfully indicated something about Williams' season that others don't seem to want to acknowledge: Just because he's not playing the best of all the rookie QBs doesn't mean he's failing by any means. It's not either or.

"He's probably ahead of schedule, even if Jayden Daniels makes it seem like he might not be," Schwab says of Williams.

Only up two spots from last week, and Nate Davis has this week's fun fact.

"A huge reason they've won a league-best eight in a row at Soldier Field? The defense has generated 18 turnovers in those games," he wrote.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.