Bears slide in NFL power rankings as faith in Caleb Williams falters

That certainly seems like a strong statement of faith, but that faith appears to be wavering after one bad practice from Caleb Williams and Chicago's offense. In Edholm's updated preseason power rankings, he drops the Bears one spot to No. 17. Justifying this ranking, Edholm writes, "Williams finished [Sunday's practice] strong with a TD pass to cap the scoring, but that was preceded by multiple play-clock violations, several errant throws and a safety by the defense on a run play inside the 1-yard line. In short, it was ugly."

While Edholm isn't wrong about how bad Sunday's practice was for Williams and the offense, it feels a bit reactionary to drop them a spot in the power rankings. It's training camp, there's going to be good days and bad, and sometimes that's by design from the coaches. Edholm went on to say, "But the offense hasn’t been all bad in camp, and we knew it was going to take some time for Williams and Johnson (and everyone else) to mesh here."

This is where Edholm's assessment goes off the rails. No, the offense has not been 'all bad' in camp. As a matter of fact, ever since the first weekend of training camp, it's been mostly good! This phrasing makes it seem like there are very few bright spots for Williams and the offense, but all reports from training camp have told us the opposite. For a good week and a half, it seemed that each new day was Williams' best day yet in camp.

Bears fans are used to this kind of disrespect from the national media. It may be unfair, but the fact is that the Bears have not earned the benefit of the doubt in many years. If they want to be taken seriously outside of the city of Chicago, they need to win and win a lot.