Bear Digest

How Power Rankings Seem to Miss Importance of Bears Defense

It's not what everyone talks about but the Bears defense makes them a problem for even good quarterbacks, and power rankings largely fail to recognize this.

Gene Chamberlain

Jaquan Brisker celebrates after his sack on a blindside safety blitz in the 24-18 Bears win over the Rams.
Jaquan Brisker celebrates after his sack on a blindside safety blitz in the 24-18 Bears win over the Rams. / David Banks-Imagn Images
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The Bears took the elevator back up after their home-field win over a Rams team beset with injuries.

Still, no one else worries about your health problems in the NFL as every team has such issues once the season begins.

And what is apparent is a team with defense in the NFL doesn't count as much with polls as a team with offense, even if scoring has been down in the league in recent years.

A few pollsters have finally looked past the obvious story of Caleb Williams' development to other issues helping define the Bears, like what the resurrection of their running game could mean for the rookie quarterback.

However, those who see past the offense to their defense know this is what's going to keep them near the top half of the league until the rookie can gain enough confidence in what he's seeing and where he's throwing.

They've made it back into the top 10 after four games and are tied for third with only two TD passes allowed, fourth in interceptions with five and second in passer rating against at 69.0.

The Bears have gone 10 games without allowing more than 21 points, which is a major accomplishment in this day of pass-happy games, like the Seattle-Detroit Monday night game.

While everyone is heaping praise on the Washington Commanders in power rankings because their QB is all the rage, they're looking past a defense last in the league in passer rating against and constantly on its heels. Jaquan Brisker's accomplishments are an afterthought to Williams' 157 passing yards and one TD pass.

The Bears are a team without an effective offense but one that is budding. The defense arrived long ago. Yet they are in the bottom half of the league in rankings. The Commanders can't stop anyone but have a potent offense, and get people putting them in the top 10.

The obvious bias in favor of good passing teams and against those who defend the pass well is present, as usual, among pollsters who really need to start watching the defensive side a little more often.

It's the real reason the Chiefs should still be No. 1 in polls and main reason why the Vikings have been much better than many expected.

SI.com: 20th

A climb from 24th with praise for Williams' "steady progress" and their defensive line, which was definitely not ranked high by anyone heading into the season. "This is another week with a fantastic play by Montez Sweat (but also some excellent interior line play to set the table for it)," Conor Orr wrote.

CBS Sports: 14th

Pete Prisco refused to buy into the thought the Bears were  one of the worst 10 teams because they lost to Houston and the Colts on the road and kept them elevated at 18th. Now they're 14th because they hadn't dropped far.

"Was that actually a running game? That will make life so much easier for Caleb Williams," Prisco wrote.

THE SURPRISING BEARS PASS BLOCKER WHO PFF SAYS LED THE WAY IN WIN

STRONG NUMBERS PROVIDE BEARS DEFENSE WITH LITTLE SATISFACTION

MORE PHYSICAL APPROACH ON OFFENSE BEST WAY TO BACK CALEB WILLIAMS

BEARS REPORT CARD: NO FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE HERE IN WIN

ESPN: 20th

Up from 26th and beat reporter Courtney Cronin identifies a potential budding problem with their defense at stopping the run.

"While the Bears have allowed only one 100-yard rusher (Jonathan Taylor in Week 3) and struggled to take down Kyren Williams (5.0 yards per carry in Week 4), finding ways to improve against the run gets Matt Eberflus' unit one step closer to its goal of top-five status," Cronin wrote.

USA Today: 21st

Nate Davis brought them up from 26th and used the occasion to note Marcedes Lewis' accomplishment: 272 NFL games played, a record for NFL tight ends. It's not just that. Lewis had possibly his best PFF run-blocking effort this year at age 40, which is encouraging because you don't want to have poor grades at his age, but also because the Bears are depleted at tight end with Stephen Carlson on IR.

Yahoo Sports: 18th

All the way up from 23rd and Frank Schwab points out how big the rise of D'Andre Swift can be for Caleb Williams. "Swift is very important for the Bears because he needs to take pressure off Caleb Williams.

The Sporting News: 22nd

Up from 26th and Vinnie Iyer says their pass defense needs some credit while everyone talks about Caleb Williams and the offense. "Meanwhile, the pass defense continues to flex to keep them in most games," he wrote. Flex is a good way to put it because they'll give up yards occasionally but in the end get the pick or force an incompletion.

Pro Football Talk: 22nd

They climbed from the worst ranking they had from anyone last week, 27th.

"For as much as they’ve struggled, 2-2 looks pretty good," Mike Florio wrote, ignoring how their defense hasn't allowed more than 21 points.

The 33rd Team: 22nd

"There are a lot of reasons to be excited about the win against the Rams in Week 4," Marcus Mosher wrote, although he doesn't seem to take them seriously by ranking the Bears down at 22nd.

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.