Power Rankings: Bears shufflin' after offing Buffalo

Updated Oct. 10

Sometimes rules are meant to be broken, including my own.

In the past, it's been a rule of sorts when compiling the CBS SportsLine.com Power Rankings to not move a team that wins out of the top spot, even if it didn't look good in doing so. After all, a victory is a victory.

This week, I'm breaking the rule.

Coach Lovie Smith has himself quite a juggernaut so far in Chicago. (Getty Images)

A week ago, I was tempted to move the Chicago Bears into the lead, but opted to keep the Indianapolis Colts there after their razor-thin victory over the Jets.

Not this week. Not after what happened Sunday.

The Bears are the best team in the NFL right now. They have to move into the top spot. So even though the Colts are 5-0, it's the 5-0 Bears who ascend to No. 1 this week.

How can they not be there?

The Bears have outscored their opponents 156-36. They have four victories of more than 25 points.

That's domination.

The Colts, on the other hand, have struggled to win each of the past three weeks. In all three games, victories over the Jaguars, Jets and Titans, they had to come from behind in the second half.

Last time I checked, the Jets and Titans aren't going to be in the playoff mix come December. The Titans led the Colts for nearly the entire game Sunday before losing 14-13.

The Bears blew out the Buffalo Bills, winning 40-7. It was the first time a Bears team scored 40 or more points since 1993. Wow.

That's why a shakeup at the top was needed. The Colts have been unable to really get the offense untracked, the defense is getting gashed by the run and there is no real feeling that they are nearly as good as the team that opened 13-0 last season.

By contrast, the Bears are better than the team that won the NFC North last season, only to lose in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Carolina Panthers.

Quarterback Rex Grossman has 10 touchdown passes, wide receiver Bernard Berrian is developing into a big-play receiver and the defense is better because the secondary is improved with the addition of nickel corner Ricky Manning. Against the Bills, they played without starting defensive tackle Ian Scott and starting defensive end Adewale Ogunleye and still shut down the Bills.

Rookie defensive end Mark Anderson, a fifth-round pick out of Alabama, had two sacks in place of Ogunleye and now has 5½ on the year. Can everyone in the building rush the passer? Does the trainer have speed-rush ability?

There's already talk comparing this Bears team to the 1985 squad that won the Super Bowl. That Bears team had arguably the best defense of all time. This team's defense is good, but not quite that good.

This team, though, has an offense that can score. Grossman's 10 touchdown passes are only five fewer than Jim McMahon threw in all of 1985. Sure, the game has changed to a more wide-open style that favors the pass, but right now this team is passing it better.

There is no Walter Payton in the backfield, but the combo of Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson isn't bad.

Is it time to get in the studio and make the 2006 Super Bowl Shuffle, only an edgier version to keep up with today's hip-hop culture?

We are the Bears Shufflin' Crew,
Blowin' through the first five weeks like nobody knew.
We are the Bears Shufflin' Crew,
Breakin' rules by playing the way we do.
We are the Bears Shufflin' Crew,
Move over Colts -- we're No. 1 and not you

OK, so it's not 50 Cent. Or Eminem. Or even Vanilla Ice, for that matter. But you get the idea.

The Bears are the best team.

The rankings for Oct. 10: