Some Power Rankings See Only Bottom Line After Bears' Loss

Power rankings in general were harsh on the Bears for losing an 11th straight time to Green Bay, even after controlling the game, but reserved most criticism for Matt Eberflus.

Cairo Santos' expression says it all after the Packers blocked his field goal attempt to end Sunday's game. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If you examine the real meaning and spirit of power rankings, it stands to reason the Bears should have probably received a boost for coming within what might have been an illegal blocked kick of beating their long-time nemesis, Green Bay.

After all, they hadn't been close to winning any game since the Hail Mary pass and hadn't really dropped far in many polls during those games. In fact, the previous week they went up one spot in Sports Illustrated's poll even while being thoroughly dominated by lowly New England and getting their offensive coordinator fired.

If Sunday had been a fluke, like Green Bay turning it over five or six times or if Matt LaFleur had been unable to find the stadium, it would be one thing.

However, the Bears went toe-to-toe with the Packers, got the usual dumb interception by Jordan Love, and besides having the advantage in takeaways, in third-down percentage, owning 13 minutes of possession time more and outrushing a team built on the run, the Bears still couldn't win.

The only thing they couldn't do better was tangle up a DB's feet to get a free 60-yard completion and block for a game-winning field goal. And there are questions whether it actually even was blocked properly.

This all might be more on Matt Eberflus' management of the last few seconds again rather than his team and their efforts, and some power rankings did acknowledge this.

Some rankings recognized what the Bears really did without winning, with Caleb Williams improving drastically under new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.

Others didn't care and simply dropped them like they had lost by two touchdowns.

SI.com: 21st

Conor Orr noted how meticulously Eberflus wound down the clock to keep the ball from the Packers, and then had the entire thing blow up in his face with the blocked field goal.

"At this point, as he now wades through the hardest back-end schedule remaining in the NFL, all we can do is pray," Orr wrote.

MATT EBERFLUS' LASTING LEGACY IS FINDING VARIETY OF WAYS TO LOSE

BEARS HOPEFUL STARTING OFFENSIVE LINE WILL BE INTACT FOR VIKINGS

BEARS SEEK TO USE LOSS AS RALLYING POINT

OFFENSIVE LINE COULD FINALLY BE BACK INTACT FOR VIKINGS

Yahoo Sports: 22nd

Frank Schwab wove a good news and bad news tail and noted the return of good Caleb but how Eberflus' ability to put them into position to win was a failure. "A head coach with better game management skills would have led a win on Sunday. Matt Eberflus continues to sink," Schwab wrote.

NBC/Pro Football Talk: 23rd

Mike Florio literally wrote it as a good-news/bad-news joke but said what everyone else did funnier as he dropped them two spots: "Bad news is they lost. Good news is the offense is better. Worst news is look at the upcoming schedule."

The Sporting News: 22nd

Down three spots because of one blocked kick and Vinnie Iyer put up the white flag. "Caleb Williams' rookie season will end without a playoff game," Iyer wrote.

USA Today: 23rd

Nate Davis noted the difficulty of the task that started with their loss by blocked field goal while keeping them right where they were last week. Their remaining opponents have a .729 winning percentage. Good luck with that.

ESPN: 23rd

Dropped two spots, and ESPN took the week to measure the temperature of hot seats around the league. Beat reporter Courtney Cronin set it at "boiling" and focused on Eberflus' failures at hiring offensive coordinators, saying the decisions "...reflect poorly on him."

The 33rd Team: 22nd

Marcus Mosher dropped them four spots, which shows he must not have been watching earlier games or they wouldn't have been 18th. And then he showed he didn't watch much of the game or see the statistics by saying of the efforts by Brown with the offense: "The offense continues to look lost, even with Shane Waldron gone."

Wow.

Let's give credit where credit is due. That's by far the best the Bears offense looked since they left London and it was the toughest defense they've faced since they played Houston in Week 2.

CBS Sports: 22nd

Down one spot and Pete Prisco bottom-lined it: "The change at offensive coordinator helped get it going, but a loss is a loss."

The Athletic: 23rd

The Athletic got it right, keeping the Bears right where they were last week. The difference between where they were and what happened with the team is indeed small.

Twitter: BearsOnSI