Bear Digest

Power Rankings Elevate Bears to a Playoff Pool Position

Only 14 teams will make the playoffs and the Bears are now one of the best 14 teams in the league, according to the majority of power rankings.

Gene Chamberlain

DJ Moore and Keenan Allen are ready to start the celebration after a touchdown by Allen in Sunday's win.
DJ Moore and Keenan Allen are ready to start the celebration after a touchdown by Allen in Sunday's win. / Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images
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The Bears have arrived in the eyes of almost all NFL power rankings.

Never mind that they look on paper like the fourth-best team in their own division, the rankings with various websites are shooting them up the charts after their third straight win, after their defense held a 12th straight opponent to 20 points or less, after their offense produced five touchdowns in successive weeks for the first time since the 1950s.

Caleb Williams has used a soft part of the schedule to improve his pass connections, first with DJ Moore and now with Keenan Allen. Cole Kmet and Rome Odunze are big parts of the passing attack. D'Andre Swift has been among the best all-purpose yardage backs in the league for three weeks.

They are ranked among teams powerful enough to be in the playoffs now, which would be 14th or better.

It's all looking up as the schedule toughens with a game against Jayden Daniels and the surprising Commanders. As the schedule toughens, the Bears even get a break here because they have a week off to get ready to play it.

Respect from analysts and writers has been tough to come by for the Bears since their 2018 division title.

It's here.

SI.com: 12th

The Bears are ranked in a playoff position and Conor Orr pays respect to offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, whose job was being questioned by many Bears fans after the 12-yard loss debacle on fourth-and-goal from the 1 against Indianapolis. The fake double screen and throw down the middle to rumbling semitruck Cole Kmet has been constantly replayed on highlight shows since Sunday.

"We said it last week," Orr wrote. "We're doubling down. Shane Waldron is on fire."

CBS Sports: 10th

That's right. The Bears are a top-10 team with CBS. Pete Prisco brings up something the rest of the NFC won't like contemplating, but Caleb Williams is barely scratching the surface.

"Caleb Williams is getting better by the week, which is not a good thing for the rest of the division," Prisco wrote. "They are 4-2 and he is back in the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year conversation."

USA Today: 14th

Up five spots and in the playoff pool at No. 14, Nate Davis understates their success.

"How much are they humming with rookie QB Caleb Williams? Chicago's offense has scored five touchdowns in consecutive games for the first time in the Super Bowl era," Davis wrote.

Actually, it's well before that. It was the first time since before they played the famed Colts-Giants championship game of 1958 which is often cited as the starting point of modern pro football since it was always called "The Greatest Game Ever Played" because it ushered in the TV era and was an overtime game.

Yahoo Sports: 14th

They moved up only one spot but into the playoff pool and Frank Schwab, veteran that he is, accurately pointed out how soft the schedule has been. He also pointed out about Caleb Williams and upcoming tougher competition: "He might still have some tough games but the development is real."

SHANE WALDRON WINS POINTS FOR ADAPTING BUT NEEDS TO SCORE EARLY POINTS

INJURY DEPRIVES NEXT BEARS OPPONENT OF PRO BOWL D-LINEMAN

MATT EBERFLUS IN NO HURRY TO WRITE OFF NATE DAVIS

BEARS BRACE FOR CALEB WILLIAMS-JAYDEN DANIELS HYPE MACHINE

The 33rd Team: 13th

Marcus Mosher applauds Caleb Williams in moving them up three spots and takes a general look at where they are.

"The Chicago Bears go into their Week 7 bye with a 4-2 record and in a great spot to make a run to the postseason," he wrote. "The rebuild has been going exactly as planned so far in Chicago."

ESPN: 16th

Not entirely sold on the Bears, they've moved them up only one spot and not among the playoff pool. However, they are in the top half of the league now. Beat reporter Courtney Cronin calls the lesson learned not to be it's unwise to jump to conclusions, based on what people said about them after three weeks.

"The Caleb Williams who was on display during Chicago's 1-2 start looks very different from the quarterback who has thrown the second-most touchdowns ever by a Bears rookie (9)," Cronin wrote.

The Sporting News: 14th

Vinnie Iyer moved them up four spots and his comment on Caleb Williams sums up their situation well: "The Bears can feel great that, like the Commanders, they have hit on their franchise QB."

Let the Week 8 hype begin in Week 7. It's Bears and Commanders for the top rookie QB spot.

Pro Football Talk/NBC Sports: 14th

Mike Florio talks about the Caleb Williams hype. "First, Caleb Williams was overhyped. Now, he’s underhyped. Eventually, the hype will be just right," Florio wrote.

NFL.com: 13th

Eric Edholm isn't sold on the Bears offense yet because of the low level of competition they've been beating. Even so, he had to acknowledge the presence of progress. "It would be premature to say that the Bears' offense has fully arrived, but the progress has been impossible to miss."

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.