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Are the Chicago Bears the best team in football?
What do you guys think? Is this guy nuts? Or is he on to something?
LINK to the article Are the Chicago Bears the best team in football? By Ricky O'Donnell on Oct 19, 12:47p
Mike Ehrmann
The Chicago Bears were deemed the NFL's top team by Grantland's Bill Barnwell this week. Are you buying into the hype?
It wasn't so long ago that Bill Barnwell, Grantland's forward-thinking pigskin prognosticator, was considered among the Chicago Bears' biggest detractors. After the Bears made it all the way to the conference finals in 2010, Barnwell had them listed as one of eight teams with 'no shot of competing' in 2011.
He thought the new kickoff rules would mitigate Chicago's sizable advantage on special teams, that the Bears recovered a flukey amount of fumbles and that they wouldn't again be so lucky with (a lack of) injuries. Well, the Bears had seemingly laid the prediction to waste by winning seven of their first 10 games in 2011 before Jay Cutler's broken thumb and the complete and total ineptitude of backup Caleb Hanie ruined everything but Barnwell's forecast.
I gave Barnwell some guff last season for what I perceived as an unprovoked ribbing of the Chicago fanbase both during games on Twitter and in his weekly reviews at Grantland.
Barnwell comes from Football Outsiders, a place where objectivity and statistical analysis is all that matters. That doesn't mean FO's writers are without bias, though: Barnwell still has to defend the system, the same one that made him a favorite of Bill Simmons and landed him a coveted new gig. If the preseason projections said the Bears would be bad, Barnwell was, in a sense, indebted to defending it.
Fast-forward a season: lest anyone thought the anti-Bears slant would carry from one year to the next, Barnwell has been in the Bears' corner to an almost laughable degree in 2012, at least when you acknowledge his previous work. His column on the weekly referendum facing Jay Cutler was widely lauded, and on Monday he placed the BearsNo. 1 in his after-six-weeks power rankings.
That's right: the NFL's most statistically-inclined mainstream voice thinks our Bears are the best team in football. Is it possible?
Chicago enters Monday night's tilt with the Lions at 4-1 and in first place in the NFC North. The Bears are a 6.5-point favorite against Detroit, and most expect they'll be 7-1 in time for a hellacious two-week stretch against the Texans and 49ers in Week 10 and Week 11.
Nothing in the NFL is ever as easy as it seems, and the Bears could certainly slip up against the Lions, or against Cam Newton and Panthers the following week. You never know in the NFL, but Chicago's strong start and seemingly cupcake-filled immediate schedule is enough to let one's imagination run wild.
Since before the season started, I've maintained the same thing: the Bears are good, but so are lots of other teams.
The NFC is particularly treacherous, though Barnwell shoots holes in the other contenders with relative ease: the undefeated Falcons have routinely narrowly escaped against weak competition, Houston was smacked by Green Bay in Week 6, the Giants and 49ers have lacked consistency on differing sides of the ball.
So it was with power vested in him by the Sports Guy that Barnwell proclaimed the Bears as the NFL's top dog. One problem: does anyone actually believe it?
Herein lies my only issue with the Bears as the NFL's best team: it doesn't really pass the sniff test. The Bears are a well-rounded squad let by a destructive defense that's setting the league ablaze at the moment, though their torrent pace isn't exactly sustainable.
In the last three games, Chicago's defense has scored five touchdowns. To think: Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman each have more touchdowns than Calvin Johnson. If that stat remains true for one more week, the Bears will very likely roll on Monday night.
This isn't so much a vote against the Bears or a vote for any other team, just an observation that, even in this football-obsessed city, it's hard to say with any conviction that the Bears should be No. 1. I know I wouldn't be confident if Green Bay was next on the schedule this week, and the same can be said for handful of other teams.
The idea behind 'power rankings' is inherently silly, something Barnwell and most others that put them out realize. The Bears may very well have been the league's most impressive outfit through the first six weeks, though that isn't necessarily a precursor for future success.
Regardless of the polls, it's hard to be anything but thrilled with how the Bears have started this season. The offense isn't coming along as quickly as some anticipated, but it's still serviceable while the D has been otherworldly.
The smart money says Jay Cutler and offense will continue to improve even if the defense takes a small step back, which should off-set the magic of scoring multiple non-offensive touchdowns week.
Detroit is actually a fun little test: there's talent on the Lions, they just haven't been able to string it together yet. Cutler's prime-time terrors are also on the table, though he's been far more stable on Monday night than Sunday night. A beat-down will instill even more swagger in a fanbase starving for a winner; a loss or something close to it against Detroit and perhaps we have to re-evaluate.
What's certain is that the Bears are where they want to be entering Week 7. There's a lot of football in front of us, but it's impossible to find fault with this blazing start.
Ricky O'Donnell is the editor of SB Nation Chicago. Follow him on Twitter or reach him at richardpodonnell@gmail.com.
Last edited by JustAnotherBearsFan99; 10-19-2012 at 10:10 PM.
Trestman - Kromer - Tucker - DeCamillis
I'm looking forward to seeing these guys coach. Hope they're good.
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High Fives / Like - 2 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Good read. Thanks for sharing it.
#1 ? IDK just yet. Atlanta is undefeated and the Giants play lights out on the road but struggle at home. SF is inconsistent as well. GB has had one good game (SF) and some stinkers too. So far the only decent team we beat was Dallas and they have identity issues. The encouraging part is that the "O" seems to be improving every week. It's not hitting on all cylinders just yet but when that happens I wouldn't hesitate to put them @ #1 if the "D" continues to play at a high level.
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We will know over the next few weeks.
1. We need to take care of business with the the weaker teams like the Lions, Panthers & Titans.
2. Stay healthy with our key players.
3. Beat some good teams. We have the Texans, 49'ers & Seattle coming up. If we are the best, then it should show against these teams.
Trestman - Kromer - Tucker - DeCamillis
I'm looking forward to seeing these guys coach. Hope they're good.
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High Fives / Like - 2 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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I think it is way over-optimistic to think that we are the best team in the NFL right now (can be, but aren't yet). One thing that is encouraging is how vulnerable pretty much every team has shown themselves to be. There is no dominant team this year like the Packers were last year of the Patriots were in past years.
Baltimore is in trouble IMO with a shaky offense and a defense now riddled with serious, key injuries.
New England has shown that terrible pass defense is its achilles heel
The Giants are inconsistent and may not even win their division
Philly is.....well.....Philly, enough said
Dallas and Detroit look like ~ 8 win teams
New Orleans is basically out of it already
Houston and San Fran have demonstrated that if you contain their running games, Schaub & Smith aren't going to beat you
Even Green Bay is really struggling defensively and is burdened by significant injuries
Right now, the best team in the NFL is Atlanta despite having stayed undefeated only via a few squeakers. They seem to have the best blend of balance, depth, weapons, and health (so far). Let's beat them in the NFC Championship Game.
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I'm very skeptical to call any team "the best", which implies the best chance to win the SB. The Falcons will eventually fall, and fall hard. The 49ers have shown their offense, when going against the right defense, will crumble (just wait for them to play an offense of note). The Texans have already crapped the bed once and that leaves us with us. The Bears have shown they're better than predicted, but what happens when a defense hangs with them long enough to cause a couple of turnovers, and the Bears have to have a come from behind victory? Every other team RIGHT NOW is too inconsistent to mention.
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Right now, I would characterize the Bears as a decent team with a GREAT defense. I do not mean decent to sound condescending. They are a decent team as in a good team.
As has been said, if we play GB or the 49ers, the Giants, NE, or the Falcons -- would I think that we were going to beat them for sure? Heck no. Would we have a good chance? yeah, if we hit on all cylinders, for sure. The problem is that the good teams make sure that you DON'T hit on all cylinders. They take you out of your game - just like the Giants are able to do to us almost at will. Can GB do it to us? I'd say they used to be able to, but I think we beat ourselves as much as they beat us this year. But that can happen again. They are a heck of a team.
So until we can play and beat those type of teams, I really can't say that we are the best as much as I'd like to.
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I agree with what you're saying, and to put it simply: Every good team has had their flaws on full display this season.
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Junior Member
Originally Posted by
Henry Burris 
I'm very skeptical to call any team "the best", which implies the best chance to win the SB. The Falcons will eventually fall, and fall hard. The 49ers have shown their offense, when going against the right defense, will crumble (just wait for them to play an offense of note). The Texans have already crapped the bed once and that leaves us with us. The Bears have shown they're better than predicted, but what happens when a defense hangs with them long enough to cause a couple of turnovers, and the Bears have to have a come from behind victory? Every other team RIGHT NOW is too inconsistent to mention.
Explain?
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Originally Posted by
bearsinhouston Right now, I would characterize the Bears as a decent team with a GREAT defense. I do not mean decent to sound condescending. They are a decent team as in a good team.
As has been said, if we play GB or the 49ers, the Giants, NE, or the Falcons -- would I think that we were going to beat them for sure? Heck no. Would we have a good chance? yeah, if we hit on all cylinders, for sure. The problem is that the good teams make sure that you DON'T hit on all cylinders. They take you out of your game - just like the Giants are able to do to us almost at will. Can GB do it to us? I'd say they used to be able to, but I think we beat ourselves as much as they beat us this year. But that can happen again. They are a heck of a team.
So until we can play and beat those type of teams, I really can't say that we are the best as much as I'd like to.
I think this is a fair characterization of what we know about the Bears thus far. Overall, we are a GOOD team but not yet a great one (or not yet playing like a great one). Based on what we have seen thru the first 5-6 games, I see the 49ers, Falcons, and the Texans ahead of us and the Patriots, Packers, Giants, and maybe the Ravens approximately even with us. I think if you were to put us on a neutral field against those teams and compelled betters to pick the winner straight up, a clear majority of the money would go to those first 3 teams with a fairly close 50-50 split for the other 4 matchups I cited. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we can't become "the best" but merely that we aren't worthy of that title yet.
Our D had been phenomenal, especially on TOs and defensive scoring, no doubt. The STs really hasn't shined all that much though I predict Hester is going to start getting some better (big) returns here soon. The element that keeps us for now out of the "best" consideration has been the inconsistency and sketchiness of the O. I really want to see the running game get going week in/week out. And I want to see the passing game putting up better numbers and scoring more points, not just at "garbage time" or after the D has basically salted the game away.
When you look at Points For/Points Against, it looks pretty impressive at first. Until you realize that we have 5 defensive TDs scored that swells the total vs only 2 given up non-offensively (Cutler's pick-6 in week 1 & the GB fake punt TD on STs). I'd like to see us put together a couple of solid "complete game" wins with excellence in all 3 phases for a full 60 minutes...then I would consider labelling the Bears worthy of a "best in the NFL" discussion.
PS: I'm really bummed about Jeffery being hurt and hope he can be back by the Houston game. I see the Marshall-Jeffery combo as our answer to Atlanta's Roddy White-Julio Jones duo. Or Green Bay's Jennings/Nelson-Randall Cobb equivalent. One established stud vet #1 WR and one young star-in-the-making. Get back soon, Alshon...
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Too early to tell. Way to too early. We're just five games into the season and so far the competition hasn't been that fierce. My magic 8 ball says ask again later.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. 
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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