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Tom Brady's Opinion of Bears Can Go No Higher After Monday's Win

The seven-time Super Bowl winner showed he has a high opinion of Ben Johnson's team when he did his weekly power rankings.
Gene Chamberlain|
Tom Brady has taken a good look at the Bears and he likes what he has seen.
Tom Brady has taken a good look at the Bears and he likes what he has seen. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

There are power rankings and then there are power rankings.

When the person doing the ranking is the GOAT, then it carries a little more weight. Fox announcer/Raiders part owner Tom Brady saw what he needed to see from the Bears in Monday night's win over Seattle and decided they could jump in his Fox power rankings past several teams he had them ranked behind last week, following their win over his former team, New England.

In fact, Brady moved the Bears all the way from fifth to No. 1 in the NFL after the win over Seattle. It definitely didn't hurt that the winner of seven Super Bowl rings just saw the Bears beat the teams playing for the rings given away to end last season.

"Last week, I asked if Chicago could go from No. 5 to No. 1 with a win in Seattle, and I'm a man of my word," Brady said, for Fox. "The Bears went into Seattle on Monday night and handled their business. D'Andre Swift scored three times, and when Seattle made it a one-score game late, Chicago answered.

And, oh yeah, Jeffery Simmons is anchoring the defense from now on. No big deal, right?"

The Bears probably deserve elite consideration as much as anyone considering the two wins back to back. However, those were last year's Super Bowl teams. If they had beaten the 49ers and Bills, it might carry a little more weight. Those are two of the hottest teams in the league and most power rankings have them at or near the top.

They'll get their chance against Buffalo on the road on Dec. 19.

The Bears have caught everyone's attention but the real test for them yet is really not out of their conference or in the NFC. It's simply winning games in their division. At 0-2 this year and 2-6 for regular season in Ben Johnson's two seasons, it's an obstacle they need to overcome before someone should consider them the best team in the NFL.

They start playing divisional games again on Thanksgiving at Detroit against Ben Johnson's old team, the only one he hasn't beaten from the division in his two years.

Brady has the right attitude toward these power rankings he put out.

"Look, these are power rankings, not standings, and there's something about the vibe in Chicago that sold me on giving them the top spot," he said.

The vibe definitely represents something special is going on, but it would be even greater if they can get to the bye week 7-2 by beating surging Tampa Bay on Sunday at Soldier Field.

The one thing about the Bears' schedule for this year is no one can claim it's weak when they've beaten Philadelphia while Jalen Hurts was still playing and the Eagles were unbeaten at the time, and also the Super Bowl teams convincingly back to back.

Their only losses came without Caleb Williams starting once or finishing the other. The case for the Bears at No. 1 might actually have merit as a result. What's important is the rest of the season and the Bears play the toughest schedule in the league based on this year's records .585 per Tankathon.com.

If they get through a slate like that still where they are now in peoples' eyes, then they definitely can be considered a postseason favorite because they'll have been tested better than anyone.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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