Interestingly, tomorrow we will see anywhere from 3rd to 5th. Quite the difference and really goes to show what a job this team has done this season to be 11-4 and where they are at right now. Legit contenders.
CBS Sports.com
Bleacher Report
The NFL preseason is in the books, and there's not long until Thursday night's opener between the champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons.
Power Rankings
1. Philadelphia Eagles
2. New England Patriots
3. Minnesota Vikings
4. Los Angeles Rams
5. Pittsburgh Steelers
6. New Orleans Saints
7. Jacksonville Jaguars
8. Houston Texans
9. Kansas City Chiefs
10. Tennessee Titans
11. Green Bay Packers
12. Atlanta Falcons
13. San Francisco 49ers
14. Dallas Cowboys
15. Seattle Seahawks
16. Carolina Panthers
17. Denver Broncos
18. Los Angeles Chargers
19. Indianapolis Colts
20. Washington Redskins
21. New York Giants
22. Detroit Lions
23. Oakland Raiders
24. Baltimore Ravens
25. Cleveland Browns
26. Cincinnati Bengals
27. Miami Dolphins
28. Chicago Bears
29. Arizona Cardinals
30. Buffalo Bills
31. New York Jets
32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFL.com
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USA TODAY
1. Eagles (1): Nope, Carson Wentz isn't ready. Yup, preseason a mess for Nick Foles and depleted offense. But champs retain our top spot until first L.
2. Patriots (2): Significant questions at left tackle, wide receiver and defense for AFC's kings. But can't take them lightly as long as TB12 is slinging.
3. Falcons (3): Fresh measuring stick for talented squad comes Thursday night, nearly eight months after its five-point playoff loss in Philadelphia.
4. Rams (5): They're loaded on both sides of ball. But after keeping so many starters bubble wrapped in August, will they emerge firing on all cylinders?
5. Saints (6): With five of first six games against teams that failed to reach postseason last year, infamously slow starters should hit ground running.
6. Packers (7): Another team that should come out swinging as healthy Aaron Rodgers and retooled defense play four of first six contests at Lambeau.
7. Vikings (4): Impressive offensive firepower and a new sniper like Kirk Cousins could mean great things ... if Minnesota's blocking is up to the task.
8. Jaguars (8):Loss of nominal No. 1 WR Marqise Lee casts further doubt on their ability to dissuade opponents from stacking up to stop Leonard Fournette.
9. Chargers (9): If they can avoid bad luck for a change, few flaws to hinder them. Keep an eye on second-year WR Mike Williams in red-zone offense.
10. Steelers (10):Note to Le'Veon Bell — if it was a best practice to avoid your place of employment for eight months a year, wouldn't everyone do it?
11. Texans (11): Deshaun Watson fired off 18 TD passes in six starts last year. Houston had 10 TD passes — combined — in its 10 other contests of 2017.
12. Redskins (14): NFC East seems to annually produce a dark horse. Washington could be it this time with Alex Smith, Adrian Peterson and refreshed D-line.
13. Panthers (13): Remarkably, Daryl Williams is practicing a month after tearing an MCL and dislocating a kneecap. Beleaguered O-line sure could use him.
14. Titans (12): Hate to read too much into preseason, but not a lot to suggest transition — especially on offense — is out of first gear under new regime.
15. Broncos (15): Perhaps no team will enjoy bigger boost from rookies as Denver unleashes LB Bradley Chubb, WR Courtland Sutton and RB Royce Freeman.
16. Bengals (25): With focus on revamped O-line and breakout candidate Joe Mixon, what could be a deep and unrelenting defense is flying under the radar.
17. Ravens (18): Return of guard Marshal Yanda, who might one day be a Hall of Fame inductee, one of this season's more unheralded and underappreciated subplots.
18. Cardinals (21): Latest reason not to sleep on Arizona? How about defense that generated mind-blowing plus-15 turnover ratio in preseason. FWIW.
19. Bears (22): Their offensive potential has only grown ... because newly acquired Khalil Mack ensures a few extra possessions over course of season.
20. Giants (24): They may have to win a lot of 31-30 type games, but an offense featuring Saquon Barkley and jubilant OBJ sure should be fun to watch.
21. Chiefs (19): "We will be the best offense in the National Football League ... without a doubt." Tyreek Hill needs to balance confidence with patience.
22. Cowboys (17): This defense may catch a lot of opponents off guard. It may have to, because battered offense is shaping up as The Ezekiel Elliott Show.
23. 49ers (20):Loss of RB Jerick McKinnon to ACL tear so close to opening day a horrendous blow to offense that couldn't afford to lose a playmaker.
24. Lions (23): They've got a lot of intriguing parts, but whole was less than sum of those components in preseason for a franchise in midst of cultural makeover.
25. Browns (28): Waving goodbye to so many Hard Knocks buddies is difficult, but good to see this club in position to cut NFL-caliber talent for a change.
26. Dolphins (26): One of sports' age-old axioms is that good teams are strong up the middle. If that holds true, Miami appears to be in serious trouble.
27. Seahawks (27): Players on both sides of ball spent summer offering testimonials for RB Chris Carson. He must justify hype to reduce load on Russell Wilson.
28. Raiders (16): They sent their best player packing. Khalil Mack's departure will likely cost Jon Gruden good will in locker room, Oakland ... and Vegas.
29. Jets (30): They couldn't have asked for much more than Sam Darnold delivered in August. But Darnold must eventually ask for much more help around him.
30. Buccaneers (29): Their first three opponents went a combined 37-11 in 2017. All indications point to an 0-3 start even if Jameis Winston were present.
31. Colts (31): As preseason unfolded, Andrew Luck started looking like his old self — when rifling ball downfield ... or taking ill-advised hits downfield.
32. Bills (32):Parking Josh Allen was right move. With so many holes, Buffalo could have seriously compromised top pick's development. Good luck, Nate P.
Note: Previous week’s rank noted in parentheses
Sporting News
19. Chicago Bears
The Mitchell Trubisky train is not an express. New coach Matt Nagy will bring much-needed creativity and explosiveness to the offense with improved skill players, but the second-year QB is bound to have a limited ceiling in his first year under the coach. The defense is good enough for a bump in the tough NFC North.
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The Ringer
17. Chicago Bears
2017 Record: 5-11
2017 DVOA: 28th on offense; 14th on defense
Best-Case Scenario: Any time I tried to build a case for the Bears fielding a terrific defense this summer, one spot would give me pause: edge rusher. Chicago spent a small fortune on its offense this offseason and used a pair of second-round picks (receiver Anthony Miller and interior lineman James Daniels) to patch up its remaining holes on that side of the ball. That meant the roster was left without a pass rusher to couple with 2016 first-round pick Leonard Floyd. This defense features the bone-crushing Akiem Hicks on the line Danny Trevathan and 2018 top-10 pick Roquan Smith at inside linebacker. The Bears also retained all three of their starting corners from last season before they could flee on the open market—and Adrian Amos and Eddie Jackson might form the most exciting young safety pairing in the NFL. The concern was that this unit had a defined ceiling without another key presence on the edge. Enter Khalil Mack.
As the rumors about Oakland trading Mack started to grow louder over the past few weeks, Chicago seemed like a logical partner. The Bears had plenty of cap space available for 2019 and showed that they are motivated to squeeze every bit of value from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky’s rookie contract with their free-agent spending spree. The price for Mack—both in terms of the draft capital the team gave up in the package deal (first-round picks in 2019 and 2020, as well as future third- and sixth-rounders) and the money it doled out in his record-breaking extension (six years for $141 million with $90 million in guarantees)—was staggering, but he’s a staggering talent. Players of Khalil Mack’s ilk rarely become available. The Bears took a league-average unit and added one of the three best defenders in the NFL. This group now has all it needs to emerge as one of the best in football.
Before the Mack deal, the excitement around Chicago was rooted in how first-year head coach Matt Nagy and a revamped pass-catching corps could elevate Trubisky and the offense. In Kansas City, Nagy coordinated one of the league’s most creative offenses, a unit that featured myriad motions, personnel groupings, and spread concepts. Let’s just say the Bears didn’t have any of those in former coach John Fox’s tenure. Chicago’s passing offense was brutal in Trubisky’s rookie season, but the wholesale changes the franchise made to its quarterback’s support system offers reason to believe that Trubisky is a candidate to make a sophomore leap, much like Jared Goff did in his first season under Sean McVay.
The Bears had a capable ground game in 2017, led by Jordan Howard. This spring, Chicago added to its offensive war chest by bringing in move tight end Trey Burton to serve a Travis Kelce–like role, Allen Robinson to take over as the no. 1 receiver, and former Falcons speedster Taylor Gabriel to stretch the field. Throw in Miller and Tarik Cohen, whose skills resemble those of Tyreek Hill, and it’s not hard to envision massive improvement.
Worst-Case Scenario: It’s far from a guarantee that Trubisky will make the leap in his second season. For all the similarities between this year’s Bears and last year’s Rams, it’s worth remembering that not all offensive-minded rookie head coaches are going to excel like McVay. Nagy also comes from a team that had Andy Reid call the offensive plays until late last season. This fall brings a colossal increase in responsibility for Nagy beyond his duties as the head coach, and we’ve seen situations like this crash and burn in the past. If Trubisky doesn’t make dramatic improvements this year—which would be particularly cruel if Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes take the league by storm—then any excitement about this team will have been for naught.
Chicago’s pass catchers should be a strength in 2018 after dragging the team down over the past couple of seasons, but concerns remain about the offensive line. The Bears could use an upgrade at right tackle sooner rather than later, and center Cody Whitehair took a step back last season after his strong showing as a rookie. (Shifting him among several spots on the line, a favorite tactic of the Fox-era coaching staff, certainly didn’t help.) Guard Kyle Long is a standout when healthy, but he’s had trouble avoiding injuries for much of his time in Chicago. Injury concerns also exist on defense: The Bears have been decimated on that side of the ball in recent seasons and don’t have much depth there.
Stat of Note: 32 percent. That’s how often the Chiefs ran the ball on first down in the first half of games last season, according to Football Outsiders, the lowest mark in the league. The 2017 Bears were at 46 percent, no. 1 in the NFL. The Bears are going from the league’s most predictable, outdated offense to a scheme run by forward-thinking coaches.
Breakout Player: Anthony Miller. The 5-foot-11 190-pounder was a touchdown machine at Memphis, with 37 scores over three seasons. He consistently impressed in fall camp, and it’s tough to imagine him not carving out a role opposite Robinson from the start.
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