Bears trail NFC North teams in power rankings, but for how long?

Skeptics tend to view the Bears as the new Arizona Cardinals.

This would potentially be a great injustice to what they have accomplished under GM Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus.

Remember, in 2019 the Cardinals were buried in the strong NFC West behind the Seahawks, 49ers and Rams and hired Kliff Kingsbury while drafting Kyler Murray. In 2021, they suddenly took a leap forward, winning eleven games and making the playoffs. The NFC West was a full division back then, just like the NFC North is today.

However, the Cardinals quickly collapsed and Kingsbury was fired. Their defense was weak and their offensive line questionable. Murray suffered an injury and the team is now trying to get it back on track.

These Bears are built differently in an extremely strong division as they have focused on building defense brick by brick and adding the offensive line over time. It is the specialty of the Poles.

This week’s Power Rankings praised their rise and highlighted how difficult their division is. That’s true, as the other three NFC North teams are ranked in the top five or six in all polls, while the Bears are between eighth and 14th.

But the Bears are built to last and won’t fade like so many other Bears teams have. Marcus Mosher of the 33rd team said it best.

“The Bears may still be a year away, but this is a talented team built the right way,” Mosher wrote.

This week’s power rankings:

SI.com: 12

Conor Orr emphasized The overall dominance of the Bears defense with top-six finishes in yards, scoring, takeaways and first downs is allowed, but also points to another fact, and that’s why they are now 12th in scoring.

“In many other divisions they would be first,” Orr wrote.

Maybe a few other departments, but definitely not all.

CBS Sports: 8

Pete Prisco continues having the Bears in his top 10 and moving them up one spot during their bye.

“The Bears’ offense really took off before the bye, so they’ll have to hope it can continue to grow,” Prisco wrote.

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NBC/Pro Football Talk: 14

Mike Florio calls This is a great week for the Bears, who stayed put during the bye.

“The biggest test for Caleb Williams comes in Washington,” he wrote.

Washington will put its defense to the test. Williams had to face tougher defense. Tennessee and Houston are 1-2 on defense and Williams has had to play against them in his first two NFL games. Washington is 15th and has given up 30 or more to Tampa Bay, Cincinnati and Baltimore. They are above average in defense.

Yahoo Sports: 12

Up two places and Frank Schwab praised the play of Cole Kmet, who is having a Pro Bowl season. However, his comment that Shane Waldron had Kmet play behind Gerald Everett in the opening game is not entirely accurate. They simply used more personnel packages with the “move” tight end than with the “Y” or inline tight end in them. That in itself was really stupid.

ESPN: 14

They moved up two places and concentrated in the rankings. Beat reporter Courtney Cronin exactly Gervon Dexter was the team’s best young riser with five sacks after taking over the 3-technique spot from Justin Jones. Dexter even helped stop the run against a good running attack in the last game, which had been the only flaw in his game.

The sports news: 11

They moved up three places while idling and said Vinnie Iyer they needed a break. At least that’s true of the defense, because as he pointed out about the offense, “…they could have cooled down a red-hot Caleb Williams.”

USA today: 12

Up two places and Nate Davis underlined the ridiculous passer rating of QBs when trying to tackle cornerback Jaylon Johnson. “Among defenders who have been targeted at least 20 times, quarterbacks have the lowest passer rating in the league against him at 20.8.”

The 33rd team: 11

Mosher moved them up two places and is just shy of the top 10, pointing out that it was “…a tough week for Chicago, with the Lions and Packers picking up wins.” That’s true. They could have been ahead of the Packers if Green Bay hadn’t made the game-winning field goal against Houston, and could have been tied with the Lions if they hadn’t beaten Minnesota in a back-and-forth game.

Twitter: BearsOnSI