2021 NFL Power Rankings: Chicago Bears

Throughout the 2021 NFL season, we will compile a consensus NFL Power Rankings that averages the rankings of all 32 NFL teams.

Here is where the Chicago Bears rank in terms of average, best and worst:

Average ranking: 22.0 (22nd)
Best ranking: 19th (USA Today)
Worst ranking: 24th (The Athletic)

Below you will find a Week 8 roundup for the Bears in our consensus 2021 NFL Power Rankings.

ESPN -- Rank: 22

Prediction we missed: DE Robert Quinn's performance.

Coming off a disappointing 2020 season, Quinn, 31, battled back injuries in the offseason program and over the summer. The odds of Quinn having a bounce-back year seemed remote. But the veteran has been the Bears' best defender through seven games with 5.5 sacks and a handful of tackles for loss. The Bears sorely missed Quinn (reserve/COVID-19 list) in their Week 7 loss at Tampa Bay. -- Jeff Dickerson

NFL.com -- Rank: 23

You have to squint hard to find positives to take out of Sunday's 38-3 loss to the Bucs. The Bears were outclassed in all facets -- unable to slow down Tom Brady and a parade of Tampa Bay playmakers, while the offense couldn't get out of its own way in a five-turnover showing. Justin Fields was responsible for all five of those giveaways (three INTs and two lost fumbles), but head coach Matt Nagy was right to keep his rookie signal-caller under center for the duration of the blowout. The 2021 Bears are not a Super Bowl contender -- they're not a playoff team, either -- so let Fields get the necessary experience and live with the good, the bad and the (very) ugly.

CBS Sports -- Rank: 22

Justin Fields is having his growing pains, but it's the right thing to keep him in the lineup. What's the point of taking him out?

USA Today -- Rank: 19

Rookie QB Justin Fields coughed ball up five times Sunday, the first five-turnover game league-wide in two years and first time a Chicago QB has been guilty of such shenanigans since the immortal Matt Barkley in 2016. It's getting ugly in the Windy City.

The Athletic -- Rank: 24

Trick or treat: There's nothing scarier around the NFL right now than watching the Bears try to play offense. They're the only team that hasn't had a quarterback reach 200 yards passing in a game. Now, embattled head coach Matt Nagy has tested positive for COVID-19 and the Bears are under intensive protocols while trying to avoid a large-scale breakout. Chicago hosts the 49ers on Halloween in a battle of desperate teams. Consider Soldier Field that house on the trick-or-treat route your parents told you to avoid.

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