Bears Can Fall No More in Some Polls

The inevitable occurred.

The Bears have hit rock bottom in more than one power ranking, and when a losing streak hits 12 straight this is not only likely but expected.

Fox Sports' David Helman found a reason to make them the worst team in the NFL this week in his website's ranking, although he didn't want to do it.

"I don't think you're actually the worst team in the NFL but you sure have looked like it through two weeks, guys," Helman said.

How bad does he see them being?

"The Arizona Cardinals are actively thought to be tanking by a lot of people and they have shown more fight through two games than the Chicago Bears," Helman said.

Yahoo Sports' Frank Schwab has them ranked last and took shots at Justin Fields, their defense and even Ryan Poles/Matt Eberflus.

"Justin Fields looks worse as a passer this season," Schwab wrote. "The defense is awful again, probably because the Bears decided to invest their free-agency money into off-ball linebackers for some reason."

So perhaps it's not too soon to start the watch for first pick in the draft.

Or in the case of the Bears, the first two picks are in play with Carolina winless and also right at the bottom of the league and the Bears in possession of that pick.

SI: 30th

Sports Illustrated's Connor Orr found a flaw in the offense while looking at what the Bears did, or at least in Justin Fields.

"Fields looked solid on his first drive, which was hand-curated by his offensive coordinator (Luke Getsy)," Orr wrote. "After that, the game plan seemed to fall apart. I noticed a lot of deep drops where Fields was simply scanning the field and waiting for something to happen, which is such a recipe for disaster against this Buccaneers defense with a handful of talented rushers and pocket pushers."

What Orr didn't point out was how this has happened for two years. The Bears led the league in scoring on first possessions last year and then, of course, failed miserably on offense to finish with a 3-14 record.

Fox Sports: 32nd

"Justin Fields does not look like the guy who is about to make a Year 3 leap." concludes Helman.

It's an easy conclusion to draw at this point.

USA Today: 31st

The Bears dropped from 27th and Nate Davis pointed out something very true for a couple of reasons.

"A team that led the league in rushing in 2022 suddenly isn't very good on the ground," he wrote.

It doesn't help when Fields has 62 yards rushing for two games, but the team that set a franchise record for rushing last year doesn't use its running backs to run from scrimmage. Their No. 1 back, starter Khalil Herbert, has 16 runs in two games.

Yahoo Sports: 32nd

Schwab knows what he sees. "If you go by the eye test, the Bears look like the NFL's worst team. They're doing nothing at an above-average level," he wrote, after dropping the Bears two places.

ESPN: 30th

They fell one spot. Their theme for the week was to look at top players with expiring contracts, and in this case it's Jaylon Johnson. They could just as easily have looked at Darnell Mooney.

The33rdteam: 30th

The Bears fell two places and Ryan Reynolds got to the essence of what has happened so far.

"The Chicago Bears haven't just lost their first two games, they've lost them handily," Reynolds wrote.

The Sporting News: 30th

Falling two spots, and Vinnie Iyer also sees Fields as "shaky."

NBC/Pro Football Talk: 29th

Mike Florio drops them from 28th to 29th and goes big-game hunting by bringing up ownership. Maybe more of this is needed.

NFL.com: 29th

Eric Edholm goes for the analytics. "They've allowed the second-most points and are near the bottom of the passing-efficiency metrics (6.5 yards per attempt, three INTs, sack rate of 13.2%). It's Year 2 for Eberflus and Year 3 for Fields. They can turn things around. But will they?" he wrote.

CBS Sports: 30th

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports makes us all wistful for the excitement of training camp and preseason Game 1: "So much for the idea that this offense would make big strides," he wrote.

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