Chicago Bears Disrespected in First NFL FPI Rankings of 2026
Despite a division title and a historic playoff run, Chicago lands at No. 16 as analysts claim Caleb Williams and a turnover-dependent defense overachieved last season.
Video Transcript
Riker here for Bears on Roundtable.
The Chicago Bears were able to reach the postseason for the first time since twenty twenty and win the NFC North for the first time since two thousand eighteen.
After their, wildcard win over the Green Bay Packers, it was the first time the franchise has had a playoff win since two thousand ten.
While all of those are great things in the eyes of Bears fans around the country, apparently it doesn't matter in the NFL FPI rankings.
The Bears came in at number sixteen, and out of the fifteen teams that were ranked ahead of them, four of them had losing records in the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, and Cincinnati Bengals.
ESPN's Seth Walder offered an explanation as to why the Bears were ranked as low as they were, stating that, the FPI was unsure about, if the Bears could mimic that success again in twenty twenty-six based on how inconsistent their defense was last season.
The Bears were able to, prove that they can hang with some of the best teams in the NFL despite having a very inconsistent defense at times.
They beat the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field and then narrowly lost to the San Francisco forty-niners just a few weeks later in week seventeen.
The Bears did have some roster overhaul this off-season as they lost starters on defense like Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, Tremaine Edmunds, and Nishan Wright.
However, the Bears, offered replacements for them in free agency as they signed Kobe Bryant and Devin Bush from the Cleveland Browns.
The Bears are going to get a chance to prove themselves again as they now are, playing a first-place schedule in twenty twenty-six as they'll be playing teams like the Eagles, Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even after everything that Ben Johnson and the Bears were able to accomplish in twenty twenty-five, it seems that the NFL is still not ready to take them seriously.
So once again, the Bears are going to have to prove themselves, which is something that they are, quite familiar with, even though they had a incredible-- an incredible season last year
