The Chicago Bears didn’t play this week — and they still got more formidable.
The biggest reason for that is their closest competitor in the NFC North, the Green Bay Packers, fell to 2-2-1 after losing a tough division game to the Detroit Lions —courtesy of a slew of missed field goals off the foot of kicker Mason Crosby.
With the loss, the Packers and Lions are now tied for second place with the toothless Detroit Lions holding down third at 2-3. And that leaves the division wide open for Chicago.
Already leading the division at 3-1 following a 48-10 shellacking of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two weeks ago, the Bears are now set up to expand that lead even further in the coming weeks as four of their next five games are against some of the weakest teams in the league (Dolphins, Jets, Bills, and Lions).
Their lone difficult matchup of that stretch, Week 7 against the New England Patriots, will be played in Chicago. Considering the Patriots already lost a road game in Detroit to the lowly Lions, it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility that Brady and company will struggle away from Foxboro.
In fact, on the season as a whole, ESPN projects Chicago should only lose two more games this season, a Week 17 road game against the Vikings and a Week 14 home tilt against the Rams.
While that seems a bit optimistic, it is certainly feasible the Bears — who rank seventh in the league in points scored at 27.8 and second in the league in points scored against at 16.3 — could be 8-1 entering Week 10. Not a bad place to be.
But how do the power rankers from ESPN, NFL.com, and USA Today see it?
Find out in the latest edition of RealClearLife‘s Ultimate NFL Power Rankings, which combine ratings from those three outlets to get a single rank for all 32 teams in NFL and use segmented tiers to arrange them.
Also, for an even greater perspective on how the season has been progressing, check out how each team’s season average ranking compares with where they finished this week and last.
The Best of the Best (1.00-5.33)
No. 1.00, last 1.00, two weeks ago 1.00, season average 1.46: Los Angeles Rams (ESPN, 1), (NFL.com, 1), (USA Today, 1)
No. 2.00, last 2.00, two weeks ago 2.00, season average 3.66: Kansas City Chiefs (ESPN, 2), (NFL.com, 2), (USA Today, 2)
No. 3.33, last 3.66, two weeks ago 4.66, season average 6.53: New Orleans Saints (ESPN, 4), (NFL.com, 4), (USA Today, 3)
No. 3.66, last 5.33, two weeks ago 14.33, season average 6.38: New England Patriots (ESPN, 3), (NFL.com, 4), (USA Today, 4)
The Best of the Rest (5.34-10.66)
No. 6.33, last 7.66, two weeks ago 7.66, season average 8.92: Carolina Panthers (ESPN, 8), (NFL.com, 5), (USA Today, 6)
No. 6.33, last 3.33, two weeks ago 5.33, season average 4.33: Jacksonville Jaguars (ESPN, 5), (NFL.com, 6), (USA Today, 8)
No. 6.66, last 7.66, two weeks ago 13.66, season average 12.06: Cincinnati Bengals (ESPN, 6), (NFL.com, 7), (USA Today, 7)
No. 8.00, last 10.66, two weeks ago 17.66, season average 14.39: Chicago Bears (ESPN, 7), (NFL.com, 8), (USA Today, 9)
No. 9.66, last 12.00, two weeks ago 12.66, season average 11.59: Los Angeles Chargers (ESPN, 14), (NFL.com, 10), (USA Today, 5)
No. 10.33, last 8.66, two weeks ago 14.66, season average 12.53: Baltimore Ravens (ESPN, 10), (NFL.com, 11), (USA Today, 10)
No. 10.66, last 14.33, two weeks ago 12.33, season average 9.06: Minnesota Vikings (ESPN, 11), (NFL.com, 9), (USA Today, 12)
So You’re Saying There’s a Chance (10.67-15.99)
No. 11.66, last 15.66, two weeks ago 8.00, season average 11.86: Pittsburgh Steelers (ESPN, 12), (NFL.com, 12), (USA Today, 11)
No. 13.66, last 9.66, two weeks ago 13.00, season average 9.66: Green Bay Packers (ESPN, 13), (NFL.com, 13), (USA Today, 15)
No. 14.33, last 10.33, two weeks ago 3.33, season average 7.13: Philadelphia Eagles (ESPN, 9), (NFL.com, 15), (USA Today, 19)
No. 15.33, last 11.66, two weeks ago 19.66, season average 18.19: Tennessee Titans (ESPN, 15), (NFL.com, 14), (USA Today, 17)
No. 15.66, last 23.33, two weeks ago 19.00, season average 22.26: Cleveland Browns (ESPN, 18), (NFL.com, 16), (USA Today, 13)
Stuck in the Middle with You (16.00-21.32)
No. 16.33, last 14.66, two weeks ago 17.66, season average 16.93: Washington Redskins (ESPN, 17), (NFL.com, 18), (USA Today, 14)
No. 17.33, last 16.33, two weeks ago 9.00, season average 16.59: Miami Dolphins (ESPN, 16), (NFL.com, 20), (USA Today, 16)
No. 19.66, last 19.33, two weeks ago 8.66, season average 14.99: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (ESPN, 22), (NFL.com, 19), (USA Today, 18)
No. 21.00, last 24.00, two weeks ago 23.00, season average 25.13: Detroit Lions (ESPN, 23), (NFL.com, 17), (USA Today, 23)
No. 21.33, last 16.66, two weeks ago 10.66, season average 12.99: Atlanta Falcons (ESPN, 19), (NFL.com, 24), (USA Today, 21)
It’s Probably Not Your Year (21.33-26.65)
No. 22.00, last 21.33, two weeks ago 23.00, season average 23.46: Seattle Seahawks (ESPN, 20), (NFL.com, 21), (USA Today, 25)
No. 22.00, last 26.00, two weeks ago 29.00, season average 22.6: Houston Texans (ESPN, 24), (NFL.com, 22), (USA Today, 20)
No. 23.66, last 19.33, two weeks ago 20.00, season average 19.13: Denver Broncos (ESPN, 21), (NFL.com, 26), (USA Today, 24)
No. 24.66, last 21.66, two weeks ago 24.33, season average 22.92: Dallas Cowboys (ESPN, 25), (NFL.com, 23), (USA Today, 26)
No. 24.66, last 29.33, two weeks ago 26.00, season average 25.46: New York Jets (ESPN, 27), (NFL.com, 25), (USA Today, 22)
See You in 2019 (26.66-32.00)
No. 27.33, last 26.33, two weeks ago 21.66, season average 25.46: Indianapolis Colts (ESPN, 26), (NFL.com, 29), (USA Today, 27)
No. 28.00, last 26.00, two weeks ago 27.33, season average 25.73: New York Giants (ESPN, 28), (NFL.com, 27), (USA Today, 29)
No. 28.33, last 31.33, two weeks ago 27.66, season average 30.19: Buffalo Bills (ESPN, 29), (NFL.com, 28), (USA Today, 28)
No. 30.66, last 28.33, two weeks ago 29.66, season average 28.86: Oakland Raiders (ESPN, 31), (NFL.com, 31), (USA Today, 30)
No. 31.00, last 31.66, two weeks ago 32.00, season average 31.19: Arizona Cardinals (ESPN, 32), (NFL.com, 30), (USA Today, 31)
No. 31.33, last 28.66, two weeks ago 29.33, season average 26.13: San Francisco 49ers (ESPN, 30), (NFL.com, 32), (USA Today, 32)
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