Latest rankings prove to be a bad look for Chicago with Indiana moving quick to potentially steal the Bears

Granted, the Bears had a strong homefield advantage this season going 7-3 at home when you factor in the two home playoff games, including the thunderous crowd during the wild card win over the Green Bay Packers.

"I want to thank our fans," Bears general manager Ryan Poles said. "As coach [Johnson] said, I'll never forget those playoff games. The games at the end of the season, they brought it. I had never seen Soldier Field like that before. I can't wait to get back to that point. I had family members flying in to O'Hare texting me, saying, 'I've never seen anything like this' in terms of the amount of pride that our fans had, wearing their Bears gear, pumped up about the upcoming game.

"We felt that, and that's part of the job that we don't talk about a lot. It's just inspiring our fan base, inspiring the community, bringing that joy and that fun to the community because of the football team and how they're doing."

At the same time, those numbers are telling and it speaks to why the Bears are eager to get stadium plans off the ground as soon as possible to build a state-of-the-art stadium that can pack more devoted Bears fans. The only problem for fans is that Indiana seems to be making the most progress.

Indiana passes Chicago Bears stadium bill

On Wednesday, the Indiana senate unanimously approved a bill to establish a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority. It's similar to what the state did to eventually build Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts.

It just goes to show that the state is moving quick with this plan of bringing the Bears to Northwest Indiana and making a strong push while Illinois continue to work things out behind the scenes with the proposed Arlington Heights plan.

When team president Kevin Warren first mentioned Northwest Indiana as a potential destination to build the new Bears stadium, he made sure to note that this wasn't a leverage move. It still certainly feels like one by forcing both states into this tug-of-war. It's very similar to what just transpired between Missouri and Kansas with the Kansas City Chiefsnow expected to cross state lines.

The good news is that things can start moving quickly with two different states involved aiming to land the Bears. This will continue to be a developing situation for months to come.