The Chicago Bears were one Cody Parkey kick away from advancing to the NFC’s divisional round last season, which essentially amounts to the conference’s Final Four.
Instead, they left the wild card round an embarrassed loser and there’s something about that last image of Chicago’s season that will stick in the minds of those creating preseason power rankings.
That appears to be the case over at NFL.com, where a new post-free agency power ranking has the Bears ranked No. 8.
The rumor mill had company — about 50,000 fantasy teams tried to trade Jordan Howard, too. GM Ryan Pace further tried to address the running game by signing ex-Seahawk Mike Davis, who enjoyed his moments in the sun (rain) in Seattle. He also brought on Cordarrelle Patterson. Who knows if Matt Nagy will employ Patterson in the same manner that Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels did in New England, utilizing the former first-rounder in a Brad Muster/Dennis Gentry kind of role. It played well to Patterson’s strength and versatility.
Should the Colts and Eagles be ranked ahead of Chicago right now? I’d argue they shouldn’t, but they are. You really can’t blame Eliott Harrison (the power rankings’ author), though. That Parkey double-doink, oh that double-doink.
The scary thought for Bears fans, one that hasn’t been talked about too much because of the free agency distraction, is that no capable replacement has been signed to start at kicker.
Maybe, just maybe, Chicago will climb higher in these rankings one they acquire a leg who can be relied upon in, ya know, the biggest games of the season.
