Bear Digest

Power Rankings Suggest This Change Will Do Bears Good

Ryan Poles and the Bears decision makers voted Matt Eberflus off the island but it wasn't necessarily a negative thing in the view of pollsters in power rankings.

Gene Chamberlain

Ryan Poles and the Bears made the move with Matt Eberflus' firing and it met with a positive response in power ratings.
Ryan Poles and the Bears made the move with Matt Eberflus' firing and it met with a positive response in power ratings. / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
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Perhaps it's perceived as shedding dead weight.

Or simply, there are so many weak or struggling teams that the Bears can't drop much more.

Whatever the explanation, a sixth straight defeat by excruciating means, the firing of Matt Eberflus and the aftermath combined to leave the Bears relatively stable in power rankings.

It's as if everyone figures the loss of Eberflus can only be a good thing.

There are numerous instances of teams getting much worse after their head coach is jettisoned in-season, so no one should be too preoccupied with the immediate impact of a coach.

Nor should the rot from other teams impact the Bears.

What is important is they've had chances at the end to beat all three other NFC North teams and probably should have beaten Green Bay. They should have at least gone to overtime against the Lions and they did against the Vikings.

So they were good enough to be close but lacked the guidance to get over the hump.

From this respect, the final five games will be huge for the Bears to see if interim Thomas Brown provides it but also to see if they can maintain the high levels of pass defense, red zone defense and third-down defense they had under Eberflus. They led the NFL in red zone defense, were sixth on third downs and are top 10 in passer rating against. Can they maintain this with Eric Washington calling defenses? They weren't doing as well with Alan Williams calling defenses in 2022 and the first week of 2023.

If they prove the defense can remain viable while Caleb Williams continues the upward trend he has been on against NFC North opponents, it will be easy for them to take higher hopes into the offseason. At least they'd be higher than where they seemed when the Detroit game ended.

Here's where they sit in power rankings.

SI.com: 25th

Conor Orr blames Williams for some of the blame that fell on Matt Eberflus as the Bears dropped one spot.

"Williams dawdling as the clock ran down was the kind of car crash horror story you simply couldn’t pull away from," Orr wrote. 

CBS Sports: 22nd

Pete Prisco slammed Eberflus but may have also shown he hasn't watched close enough as the Bears remained the same in their ratings.

"He botched the end of two games and it cost him," Prisco wrote. "Now it's about getting the right guy for Caleb Williams."

Sorry, but it was a lot more than two games bothed at the end.

ESPN: 22nd

Climbing one spot after a loss from 23rd and ESPN looked at the possible first Pro Bowl nominees from teams. It looked so promising for DJ Moore when the season started and beat reporter Courtney Cronin calls him their best chance, but admits it's unlikely.

"It's a long shot considering Moore's usage didn't get going until Chicago's offensive coordinator switch in Week 11, as Moore ranks 26th in the NFL in receiving yards (663)," she wrote.

The 33rd Team: 23rd

Down one spot and Marcus Mosher simply hit them for ruining everyone's Thanksgiving.

"Any loss that results in the head coach's firing is a bad look, especially when it occurs on Thanksgiving in a nationally televised game," Mosher wrote.

Yahoo Sports: 22nd

They stayed the same but veteran Frank Schwab wins best weekly comment for looking back at the biggest offseason mistake made by GM Ryan Poles.

"The Bears might forever regret not firing Matt Eberflus after last season and chasing former Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh to be their next head coach," Schwab wrote.

But that would have been expensive to eat three years on a coach's contract and also hire a coach as high-priced as Harbaugh. And sadly, this is always an issue at Halas Hall.

Pro Football Talk/NBC Sports: 24th

They improved one spot and Mike Florio went with the one-liner "It was fun while it lasted," presumably pointed at Eberflus because it's been anything but fun for fans.

The Sporting News: 23rd

In keeping them at the same level, Vinnie Iyer also gives a good description of how Eberflus looked in many of the games this year.

"The Bears got their offense going with Caleb Williams thanks to Thomas Brown, so he was a worthy choice to get a longer look at head coach at the expense of oft-flustered Matt Eberflus."

NFL.com: 23rd

The Bears remained 23rd and Eric Edholm makes a very good point about Thomas Brown's attempt to win the head coaching job.

"The idea of hiring from within might not be viewed as a home-run move with the fan base," he wrote.

After this season, they definitely the heavy hitter.

USA Today: 23rd

They remained in the same spot and Nate Davis pointed out how Brown is likely to handle the coming five games.

"Interim coach Thomas Brown is preaching "coachability, accountability and dependability," he wrote.

THE HAND THOMAS BROWN MUST PLAY IN HIS DEBUT

THE CONCERN OVER CALEB WILLIAMS WITH THOMAS BROWN AS INTERIM COACH

HOW THOMAS BROWN SEES BEARS PULLING IT ALL BACK TOGETHER

HOW THOMAS BROWN SEES BEARS PULLING IT ALL BACK TOGETHER

The Athletic: 23rd

Down one spot in The Athletic's poll and they're looking out for the general football public here in a rather comical fashion.

"It's bad enough for the Bears that they have lost six straight. It makes it worse that there are so many witnesses. Chicago's losing streak started with its famous Hail Mary loss to the Commanders in a game that was flexed into CBS’ marquee afternoon time slot. On Thursday, the Bears played the opening Thanksgiving game and suffered more embarrassment due to stupifying end-of-game clock management. Guess what? They are scheduled to play on “Monday Night Football” in Week 15 and “Thursday Night Football” in Week 17."

It's never good to air out your dirty laundry in public.

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.