I’m keeping Chicago as my #1 team for all the reasons I listed last week. With the exception of the Thursday Night loss to Green Bay, the Bears have looked great this season, 4 of 5 games by 16 or more. While you can’t completely ignore what happened on Thursday Night Football, it’s unreasonable to put too much stock into one game when a team has had 3 days to prepare on the road.

In their other 4 games, with the exception of Jacksonville, who they destroyed in Jacksonville in a potential trap game, they’ve played good opponents. Dallas should be a playoff contender right until the very end. They beat them by 16 in Dallas. Blowout wins over Indianapolis and St. Louis didn’t look impressive at the time, but now they do. They also beat Detroit in a game that was a lot more lopsided than the 13-7 final score. Jay Cutler is now 10-1 in his last 11 games, including 22-10 dating back to 2010, including the 2 postseason games that year. They certainly didn’t do anything to lose this spot last week in a still wide open league.

Studs

LT J’Marcus Webb: Allowed 2 quarterback hurries on 42 pass block snaps, run blocked for 17 yards on 3 attempts

CB Charles Tillman: Allowed 7 catches for 50 yards on 12 attempts, 2 pass deflections, 7 solo tackles, 2 stops, 1 penalty

ROLB Lance Briggs: Allowed 1 catch for 2 yards on 4 attempts, 1 pass deflection, 3 solo tackles, 3 assists

SS Major Wright: Did not allow a catch on 3 attempts, 1 pass deflection, 2 solo tackles, 2 stops, 1 quarterback hurry on 3 blitzes

DT Henry Melton: 1 quarterback hit and 5 quarterback hurries on 37 pass rush snaps, 3 solo tackles, 1 assist, 3 stops

Studs

C Roberto Garza: Allowed 1 quarterback hurry on 42 pass block snaps, 2 penalties, run blocked for 3 yards on 2 attempts

RG Lance Louis: Allowed 1 sack and 1 quarterback hurry on 42 pass block snaps, 1 penalty, run blocked for 4 yards on 4 attempts

WR Devin Hester: Caught 3 passes for 38 yards on 6 attempts on 41 pass snaps, 11.3 YAC per catch, 1 drop, 1 punt return for 5 yards

TE Kellen Davis: Caught 1 pass for 3 yards on 2 attempts on 28 pass snaps, 4.0 YAC per catch, 1 drop

DT Amobi Okoye: Did not record a pressure on 22 pass rush snaps, no tackles

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]

[switch_ad_hub]