NFL Power Rankings, Week 15: Bears are surging, sort of

The Chicago Bears have won two games in a row for the first time since Matt Eberflus became head coach in 2022. Both of those wins were against NFC North opponents (the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions), both of which would be in the 2023 playoffs if the season ended today.

The Bears are 5-4 in their last nine games, and if it wasn’t for a few infamous late-game chokes, Chicago could be entering Week 15 with a 7-6 record.

But they’re not. They’re 5-8, and while their playoff hopes are still alive … the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoffs is 6-7 … so too are their chances to end the year with a top-five pick.

Still, the Chicago Bears are playing better football over the last month. And their climb in the NFL Power Rankings reflects that … sort of.

A few weeks ago, you couldn’t find a Power Ranking article with the Bears higher than No. 30 or even No. 31. They were considered one of the league’s laughing-stock franchises.

Now, the Bears are inching closer to being in the top 20.

NFL.com ranks them No. 23. Sports Illustrated is the same, No. 23. CBS Sports? Yep, No. 23. ESPN … keep it rolling, No. 23.

USA Today isn’t as kind, they rank the Chicago Bears 24th, as does FOX Sports.

“Defensive takeaways, in general, are up — a core tenet of coach Matt Eberflus” H.I.T.S. principle and the Tampa 2 defense — after a slow start to the season (eight in Chicago’s past three games),” ESPN’s Courtney Cronin wrote. “But if you zero in on passes the Bears have picked off, you’ll find one category in which Chicago is performing better than the 31 other teams. The Bears have nine interceptions since Week 10, which is the most in the NFL during that stretch, after generating six in the first nine weeks of the season.”

ESPN bumped the Bears up three spots after their win over the Detroit Lions in Week 14.

“It’s wild to say aloud, but if they win the final four games, the Bears have a decent shot of making the playoffs,” NFL.com’s Edholm wrote.

There’s a long way to go before the Bears” playoff chances turn from hopes to reality. As Edholm noted, Chicago has to win out, and if they do, it means they won six games in a row, and seven of their last eight.

That’s tough to do, even for the NFL’s best teams.

But it isn’t impossible. The Chicago Bears’ remaining games include the Cleveland Browns led by Joe Flacco in Week 15, the three-win Arizona Cardinals in Week 16, a hard-to-figure-out Atlanta Falcons club in Week 17 before ending the 2023 season against the Green Bay Packers in what could be a win-and-you’re-in game to close out the year.

Bears tight end Cole Kmet said this week that Chicago is already in a playoff mindset, they have to win the next game on their schedule, or their post-season hopes will evaporate. And he’s right.

For now, the Bears are playing meaningful football in mid-December. And that’s a win for Bears fans who’ve longed for games like this for quite some time.