The other shoe finally dropped on the struggling Chicago Bears, who were officially eliminated from the NFC Wildcard race in Week 16 by the Green Bay Packers. In truth, the finality had been a mere matter of course, considering the team could no longer lean on Jay Cutler, Matt Forte or Johnny Knox to score points and had lost four in a row heading into Week 16. Now the Bears will presumably take a look at younger prospects and players with expiring contracts in their otherwise meaningless final game against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Bears had taken slight hits for several weeks as experts began to realize just how lost the offense looked under Caleb Hanie, and although veteran Josh McCown player fairly well it would make sense that the team will once again dive lower in the league rankings. Frankly, the talent level outside of Jay Cutler and Matt Forte on offense is alarmingly low. Without their starting quarterback and starting running back, the team has been unable to score with any type of rhythm or regularity, and with each passing game it only creates more questions about the overall quality of the roster.
How will NFL experts react to the Bears being eliminated from playoff contention?
Power Rankings Prediction: 17-21 range.
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