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Week 8 Power Rankings: Bears continue to fall after back-to-back losses

After losing back-to-back games, the Chicago Bears continue to slide in the power rankings much to the surprise of no one.

Some websites have kept the Bears in the same spot, as others have let them fall even further than where they were last week. Still, after a 38-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, things aren’t trending in the right direction.

USA Today: 19th

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USA Today moved the Bears down three spots to 19th, which is pretty high considering how poorly the team played as a whole on Sunday.

After a few weeks of Bill Lazor improving the offense, things have finally died down the last two weeks. USA Today has compared this offense to the Matt Barley offense in 2016, with the turnovers Justin Fields had on Sunday.

Fields is a more dynamic quarterback than Barkley, but we haven’t seen the number of turnovers by a quarterback since that era. For all of his faults, Mitchell Trubisky didn’t turn the football as often as other former Chicago quarterbacks.

The hope is Fields to bounce back and have a great game against the 49ers. Though they’re 2-4, you cannot discount the defense they have in San Francisco. It’s a great test for the rookie coming off of his worst game in years, not just in the NFL.

SI.com: 20th

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Sports Illustrated has the Bears at 20th on their Week 8 power rankings. They’ve made some good points, Justin Fields has struggled and looks unhappy, while Matt Nagy has been too defensive.

Is something brewing in Chicago? Is Fields starting to resent Nagy for the team’s struggles? There hasn’t been much proof of that, but it’s interesting to see that brought up after back-to-back losses.

After wins, Nagy takes credit, and after losses, he is always looking to find the “why.” How long does that last before his hot seat ends in him being without a job? At least without a job in Chicago.

If these two are clashing, Fields is their future – or at least expected to be. One would assume they’d choose him over Nagy, as the team has had a losing record since 2018. Take away that 12-4 coach of the year season and the Bears are already being coached by someone new. The same thing could be true next season.

ESPN: 22nd

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN has moved the Bears down three spots to 22nd. The defense struggled big time, but they also missed both Robert Quinn and Akiem Hicks in the pass rush.

With those two missing, ESPN has given Chicago a little bit of a break, but still, there are not many excuses for a 35-point loss. They’ve been outscored in their last two games by 45-points. Something has to change.

These next two games, against the 49ers and then Steelers, are very winnable. Those offenses aren’t as dynamic and dangerous as the Packers and Buccaneers. They’re still two solid football games and with the previous trend from the Bears, they could easily be 3-6 going into their bye week.

CBS Sports: 22nd

AP Photo/Jason Behnken

CBS Sports continues the trend of moving the Bears down three spots to 22nd. Growing pains from Justin Fields was the story on Sunday. That put the defense in a tough spot, as the Buccaneers were gifted great field position early in the game.

Fields started the game and finished it. That was the best move Chicago made this weekend. He has to learn how to handle poor games like the one he had on Sunday. It’s only going to be better for a mentally tough quarterback like him.

For those calling for Andy Dalton to come back in, it’s pointless. This is Fields’ team. He’s been the quarterback since Week 2 and will continue to be the team’s quarterback. Unless he is injured, he will likely play the rest of the regular season.

NFL.com: 23rd

AP Photo/Jason Behnken

NFL.com has kept the Bears at 23rd after another loss. With little to no positives on both sides of the ball from Sunday’s loss to Tampa Bay, they must have figured that there are still nine NFL teams worse than Chicago.

Justin Fields had the worst game of his career. He turned the football over five times, but he gained some much-needed experience. Instead of being benched to reset going into next week’s game, coach Matt Nagy let him finish what he started.

Still, in Fields’ rookie season, he has just two passing touchdowns and six interceptions. Those numbers aren’t great, but he’s a rookie. If he can turn things around in his sophomore season, they’ll throw his struggling rookie season out the window. If there’s no improvement, which is hard to believe that would be the case, the trade up might not look as good as it did in April.

Yahoo! Sports: 24th

AP Photo/Jason Behnken

Last week Yahoo! Sports had the Bears at 21st on their power rankings. This week? Chicago has fallen down three spots to 24.

It’s the same story, different website. Justin Fields has to do better. Rookie or not, he turned the football over too much. He cannot continue to do that and expect to win football games.

Part of it is a scheme issue. Bill Lazor did well in the first few games calling plays, but the passing attack hasn’t gotten better. The Bears can run the ball as well as anyone else, but they might be the worst passing attack in the entire NFL. If not the worst, they’re in the bottom three.

It’s a work in progress and growing pains when it comes to Fields on offense. He’s started under 10 games. We won’t see much improvement until he’s had an entire offense with either Matt Nagy’s playbook or likely a new head coach’s playbook. He had a shortened offseason, as he’s only been with the team since late April. Give him eight months with a playbook and see how well he improves from year one to year two.

Touchdown Wire: 25th

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Touchdown Wire has moved the Bears down two spots to the 25th spot on their power rankings. They said it best, Chicago was already ranked low and they’re not getting any better. They’re not helping their case to be higher in the rankings.

It was a poorly, not-so-executed, football game. Turnovers were the story on Sunday, and Tom Brady destroying the Bears’ secondary for the better part for three quarters. It was so bad, the game was over in the first quarter.

The offense has to get better to win football games. The Bears are a one-dimensional football team and they proved that yet again. They can run the ball on anyone, but they struggle to get the ball out of Justin Fields’ hands against mostly everyone.

Two touchdowns, six interceptions don’t scream success in the passing game. Fields does get a pass though, he hasn’t even started 10 NFL games.

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