Bears Blitz

Published by Rob Belote on September 29, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

At my site, www.GuysNation.com, I took a hard look at all 32 teams, compared their records, the average points they’ve scored and allowed per game, their strength of schedule, and came up with the NFL power rankings for Week 4 in the 2010 NFL season.

One of the teams which was hard to place were the Chicago Bears.

Yes, I know they’re undefeated.

Yes, I realize there are only three undefeated teams remaining.

Just look at the facts at hand, and unless you’re blinded by your love of the Monsters of the Midway, you should be able to at least admit that there is a potentially valid argument that the Bears aren’t one of the top three teams in the NFL right now.

Beating the Detroit Lions in Chicago should be a given for the Bears.  It’s a divisional game and Detroit has been bad the past couple years.  What happens during the first week of the season? 

The Bears almost let the Lions beat them on hallowed ground.  Were it not for a lame rule, Calvin Johnson would’ve been given the touchdown reception he rightly deserved and the Bears would not only have a loss on their record, but it would’ve been a TERRIBLE loss.

Week 2 saw the Bears go to Dallas and pick up a win, but the Cowboys aren’t setting the world on fire this season (apart from a big Week 3 victory over the Houston Texans), and they only won by seven.  That’s the same Dallas Cowboys team who lost to the Washington Redskins (1-2, with losses to Houston and St Louis).

On Monday Night Football, prime time television with a huge viewing audience, the Chicago Bears have a home game against the division rival Green Bay Packers, and what statement do they make? 

Essentially they let everyone know that without penalties, overturned interceptions, a fluke kick return for a touchdown from a guy who hasn’t done that in two years, and a few great catches by Greg Olsen, the Bears should’ve lost to the Packers.  Even with all of that in their favor, the Bears still just BARELY squeaked by with a victory. 

There’s a reason why odds-makers typically spot the home team three points before any other analysis is done.  There should be a huge home field advantage in the NFL.  For the Bears on Monday night, they didn’t capitalize on that.

Why should I rank the Chicago Bears ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs?  In both of their home games at Arrowhead this season, the Chiefs have won by at least a touchdown.  A victory over division foe San Diego was a seven-point win, and the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers—a playoff team by most preseason accounts—by 21 points. 

The Steelers are getting it done without Roethlisberger.

The Atlanta Falcons are looking great, taking care of division rivals on the road and their only loss coming against the elite-looking Steelers IN Pittsburgh.

Many analysts are saying that the Philadelphia Eagles are playing like an undefeated team, discrediting the loss to the Packers due to Kevin Kolb’s injury and the fact that there’s a new starting QB for the Eagles now.

If you figure that the Packers only lost by three to the Bears in Chicago in a game some say was decided by the referees and you figure the +3 advantage that odds-makers typically give the home team, you can basically discount the loss off the Packers record, whereby they look like a near-elite team.

So given all of those things, where did I put the Chicago Bears in my NFL power rankings after Week 3?

Read the full version of my article at www.GuysNation.com, where unlike power rankings you see elsewhere, your comments could help persuade me to rank your team better after Week 4!

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