Matt Forte is a lonely Bear on ESPN's top-100 list

It’s nice that the Bears now have a proven coaching staff, but players win games, which is why the team is in big trouble this season. It doesn’t have many good ones.

If you refuse to believe that, allow ESPN to educate you. It put together a panel of 70 experts, including former players and front-office members, and asked the group to come up with the top 100 players in the NFL.

Running back Matt Forte, at No. 59, was the only Bear on the list. Guard Kyle Long didn’t make it. Tight end Martellus Bennett didn’t make it. And if there was a Bears defender within a few miles of the top 100, I’d be shocked.

Unless defensive coordinator Vic Fangio can turn water into wine and raise the dead into linebackers, the Bears are in for a very long season.

Even genius Patriots coach Bill Belichick needs players – he has four on the list. When one of them is Tom Brady, ranked third, it makes everyone, coaches and teammates, better. And smarter.

Don’t be surprised if Bears coach John Fox looks a lot less intelligent at the end of the season than he did the day he was hired. Just remember to blame the players.