Victory Only Boosts Bears Slightly
In this story:
Winning a game over a weak Houston Texans team gave a boost to the Bears in the eyes of some who do power rankings.
To others, it actually hurt.
The Texans had been touted as better than their record based on a tie with Indianapolis and a tightly contested game with Denver, but the Bears prevailed thanks to a big Roquan Smith play, their defense and running game and as a result they have moved up from 28th to 23rd in the Sports Illustrated rankings this week.
Conor Orr of SI points out how Justin Fields threw for only 106 yards but adds: "...when you're running the ball for almost eight yards per attempt with your lead back it doesn't really seem to matter."
So, in this case, it really doesn't matter because they did it without their lead back.
David Montgomery has an ankle injury and missed most of the game.
The Bears' win hardly was enough to raise their status across other rankings. In fact, they fell in some of the polls based on "style points."
Here's where the Bears rate elsewhere this week.
CBS Sports: 24th
The Bears moved up only one spot and remained behind this week's opponent, the Giants, by one place. "They are 2-1, but have hardly looked like that type of team," Pete Prisco wrote. They are the lowest-ranked 2-1 team in the CBS poll, the Giants being next lowest.
The Ringer: 30th
Moving up only from last in the league to 30th, the Bears caused Austin Gayle to write they "...have no business winning football games right now, but here they are at 2-1."
USA Today: 30th
They won a game over Houston, now ranked last, and still moved back one place. moved up one place with the win. Nate Davis chose to criticize their lack of passing yards in downplaying their win.
NFL.Com: 27th
In moving up three spots, the Bears still were roundly criticized by Dan Hanzus. "We knew this was going to be a season of growing pains for Fields and the Bears—but the early signs suggest those pains might be more severe than expected," Hanzus wrote.
The Sporting News: 19th
Up from 23rd, the Bears defense earned praise from Vinnie Iyer. "...Roquan Smith and the defense are doing their job to play off a reliable strong running game, even more so without David Montgomery," Iyer wrote.
Fox Sports: 23rd
"If you're going to play ugly, you might as well win," wrote David Helman for Fox Sports. And then they dropped the Bears four spots in their rankings despite the win.
Yahoo Sports: 25th
Frank Schwab made the low ranking entertaining, promising that despite being 2-1, "Things are going to get worse. A lot worse." And he based it on the lack of a passing game.
ESPN: 22nd
It was a huge jump from 28th for the Bears, although their passing problems are noted. Bears beat writer Courtney Cronin said the Bears coaching staff is trying to assess Fields "...but it's tough to evaluate him when he has only attempted 45 passes through three weeks."
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
