Bear Digest

Hail Mary Hangover a Bears Concern Say the Power Rankings

The Bears dropped in most power rankings and many writers in polls wondered whether they can overcome the damaging long-term effects of a loss like Sunday's.

Gene Chamberlain

Cole Kmet's reaction (far left) is what many Bears fans thought as Doug Kramer fumbled at the goal line on a William Perry style run against the Commanders.
Cole Kmet's reaction (far left) is what many Bears fans thought as Doug Kramer fumbled at the goal line on a William Perry style run against the Commanders. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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The range of criticisms the Bears have absorbed in NFL power rankings after one poorly defended pass play is vast in scope.

The bottom line to it all was mainly slamming the coaching staff but, remarkably, in most cases the loss did only slight damage to where the Bears are viewed in rankings.

A few polls gave them a big drop but most were slight. It was only one play.

The real danger in all of this was not especially the coaching staff's abilities but was wisely pointed out by Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated.

"If Matt Eberflus thought inheriting Caleb Williams and managing expectations was going to be difficult, just wait until h,e has to dig this team out of this emotional well," Orr wrote.

The season is long and there are still 10 games left with the Bears right in the range of where teams need to be so they can make late-season playoff runs. Everything can still be determined about this team and one play or one loss doesn't end it.

It sure makes any kind of success a lot more difficult to achieve, though.

Here are this week's power rankings.

SI.com: 18th

They dropped by six spots with one pass. Orr's question to end his comments pretty much sums up the job ahead for Eberflus.

"How do you keep the ship from leaving the dock and floating aimlessly at sea?"

LONG LEGACY OF LOST LATE LEADS BY MATT EBERFLUS TEAMS

WHY THE HEAT SHOULD BE ON BEARS DECISION MAKERS

WHY TYRIQUE STEVENSON FACES TOUGH WEEK WHILE DEFENSE REGROUPS

WHAT MATT EBERFLUS SAID TO SECOND-GUESSERS AFTER LOSS

CBS Sports: 14th

The drop here was from a top 10 team to the bottom of where the playoff pool is.

Pete Prisco also underscored the importance of one play.

"They didn't play great against the Commanders, and losing on the final play on a Hail Mary could devastate this group," Prisco wrote.

USA Today: 11th

The Bears actually improved in Nate Davis' rankings by one spot. But he still gets in his digs by taking an alternate approach.

Although essentially an exaggeration, Davis does keep another play from being forgotten. And it shouldn't be.

"You probably think they lost Sunday's game due to Daniels' already epic Hail Mary," Davis wrote. "Sure. But the Bears really lost when they opted to hand off to OL Doug Kramer at the 1-yard line with little more than six minutes to go, the gimmicky play producing a killer fumble instead of a crucial touchdown.

The 33rd Team: 16th

Marcus Mosher looks at the positive side, while dropping them five spots.

"The defense managed to hold Jayden Daniels and the Commanders down for most of the afternoon, and Caleb Williams delivered on what should have been the winning touchdown drive," Mosher pointed out.

NFL.com: 13th

Dropping just two spots Erik Edholm puts blame where it should be after the Hail Mary fiasco and the Doug Kramer fumble.

"This was a massive setback for Chicago's coaching staff, which made some painful errors Sunday," Edholm wrote

NBC/Pro Football Talk: 17th

They fell out of the top half of the league from 14th in Mike Florio's poll and then he took a shot at Tyrique Stevenson.

"They should trade Tyrique Stevenson to the Commanders, since at the end of Sunday’s game it felt like they already had," Florio wrote.

The Sporting News: 14th

Falling from 11th and Vinnie Iyer worries about their football mental health going forward, as well.

"They just need to emotionally pick up the pieces from a victory being wrestled away by a miracle throw," Iyer wrote, after praising their comeback ability.

ESPN: 15th

They dropped one spot and the weekly website theme was pointing out the key offseason addition. Beat reporter Courtney Cronin tabbed Caleb Williams.

"Suffice to say that the Bears wouldn't have had a chance at a win in Washington had it not been for Williams."

Yahoo Sports: 13th

Another where they fell only one spot, and Frank Schwab indicates the real reason why the defeat was particularly damaging to the Bears whether it came by Hail Mary or some other way.

"The Hail Mary loss is massive. The Bears have the NFL’s toughest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon," he wrote. "They couldn’t afford to lose that way."

The Athletic: 17th

Falling from 13th, and Caleb Williams' weakness in the Washington game against the blitz is bought up. It was something he had seemed better at in recent games but Dan Quinn always did make good use of blitzes in his defensive schemes.

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.