Blame Enough for All Bears to Share

When you've beaten one of the worst teams in the league, are in the same division as another and lose to another, rankings become rather easy to determine.

In almost all of the weekly power rankings, the Bears are coming in either 29th or 30th. So it's a very easy ranking to ascertain. It comes down to whether someone thinks they are better than Detroit.

They already beat Houston so they deserve 31st at the worst. And Carolina is so bad the coach got fired before the trade deadline.

In many, the Bears are directly behind the Commanders even though they badly outplayed Washington. The final score counts for something.

It's substance over style in the Sports Illustrated rankings this week, though, as the Bears still ranked over the Washington Commanders by one spot despite losing to that team Thursday.

What does that final tally count for anyway?

One other common theme to most of the commentaries in this week's rankings is that Justin Fields is not to blame but everyone else is.

No, really, there's plenty of blame to go around for everyone, and after that pass overthrown from inside the 5-yard line to wide-open Ryan Griffin it was Fields himself who said "an NFL quarterback" has to hit that.

A high school quarterback hits that throw.

Here are the power rankings for this week and those spots in 29th, 30th or 31st are for the entire Bears team, not everyone except Justin Fields.

SI.com: 30th

Conor Orr's rankings drop the Bears one spot but talk about a mosh pit of mediocrity in the league. If only the Bears could be so lucky to be in the mosh pit. However, it's a positive commentary in general as it mentions the components for some offensive success being visible.

NFL.com: 29th

The Bears remain firmly entrenched where they were last week despite the loss, but beating them might not be worth much as Washington is still rated behind them based on the Darnell Mooney bobbling catch at the goal line. While the costly Mooney juggle that cost them crucial inches at the goal line is mentioned, Fields' horrible pass over wide-open Ryan Griffin in the end zone from inside the 10 was not.

CBS Sports; 30th

The Bears fell from 28th and Pete Prisco states the obvious when he does mention the passing game is to blame, however he leaves it open to whatever. It could be Luke Getsy's fault, the receivers, the blockers or Fields' fault. "They can't score enough. It's that simple. The passing game is too limite," Prisco wrote.

ESPN: 29th

Down two spots and this time someone new is brought onto the carpet. Courtney Cronin discusses how tight end Cole Kmet hasn't produced and points out he has had just two red zone targets, which makes little sense after Jimmy Graham's departure.

Yahoo Sports: 30th

Frank Schwab drops them two spots and asks the question that has been asked since late Thursday night, and that is how do you blow a 12-7 game by coming away with no points on three trips inside the 10-yard line. Of course, in asking it, he gives his own answer: That's how they lost it. The opportunities before Mooney's bobbling catch were maddening and almost entirely cover up his mistake.

The Sporting News: 29th

The theme remains Fields being victimized in Vinnie Iyer's comment as the Bears fell from 27th to 29th, one spot behind Washington. But no mention again made of Fields' horrendous pass at the goal line that proved costly. Again it seems he's being protected.

USA Today: 30th

In dropping them two spots, it was mentioned how their 238 rushing yards was the most they've had in a losing effort in 38 years. That's not intended as a compliment.

NBC/Pro Football Talk: 29th

Mike Florio falls into the trap of removing any blame from Fields and mentioning how it's too bad everyone else on the team isn't improving like Fields has.

Ryan Griffin didn't drop that easy pass. He needed a ladder to reach it.

The Ringer: 30th

Another commentary blasting all the Bears but lauding Fields , despite the easy TD pass he botched. They remain 30th after the loss.

Fox Sports: 31st

The lone dissension is from Fox, as the Bears are ranked ahead of only Carolina. So apparently the glow from their Week 3 win over Houston has worn off as they are ranked here below Lovie Smith's team. David Helman did have the line of the week when he said: "It feels cruel that we have to watch the Bears on Monday Night Football just one week after this Thursday night debacle."

The thing is, not everyone had to suffer through Thursday night's debacle because it was on Amazon Prime Video and Home Delivery.

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