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The regular season is over, and for many teams, the power rankings following Week 17 will be the last meaningful rankings until the new season begins. This is the case for the Chicago Bears, who finished 10-6, but missed the playoffs. It was an incredibly disappointing season, made even more so by the fact that the Bears started their season at 7-1.
Joel Thorman of SB Nation released his post-Week 17 power rankings and the Bears are at No. 14, below all playoff teams.
14. Chicago Bears (LW: 13, 10-6): So the Bears fired Lovie Smith after a 10-win season. That's rough. Also rough: three postseason appearances in nine years. Hard to defend someone who starts 7-1 and misses the playoffs.
The Bears also missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons. It's shocking to see the Bears without Lovie Smith, but at the same time, it was expected.
Chicago is actually below another team that didn't make it into the playoffs in these rankings: the New York Giants. More than that, the Giants actually had a worse record at 9-7, and are at No. 12, one spot above the Baltimore Ravens, who are in the playoffs.