There is a group of certain teams you expect to be the worst in the NFL at any certain time. The Chicago Bears are not a regular member of that group. So you can't imagine the Bears will stay in the basement too long. But they're there now. Right now, the Bears are the worst team in the NFL. You could maybe argue the worst team is the New Orleans Saints (especially if the Drew Brees news ends up being really bad), the New York Giants or one of the one-loss teams that normally inhabits that "worst team" group we know and love. But the Bears have earned the No. 32 spot. Their minus-33 point differential is 12 points worse than anyone else. They have played two tough teams, but both were at home and they trailed in each by at least 15 points. It's doubtful it gets much better in Week 3 at the Seattle Seahawks. Quarterback Jay Cutler's injury doesn't matter much either; he's not the answer, just like Jimmy Clausen isn't the answer. The Bears' ineptitude isn't new, either. Chicago was one of the two or three worst teams in the NFL by the end of last season, when it was clear Marc Trestman would be fired. How did it get this bad? How is it possible that there isn't one blue-chip player on defense except maybe pass rusher Pernell McPhee? Cornerback Kyle Fuller, the 2014 first-round pick, is getting torched by the media and fans after two weeks, the inside linebackers don't intimidate anyone, and you can argue the second- and third-best defensive players are 32-year-old safety Antrel Rolle and 33-year-old pass rusher Jared Allen. That's not good for a team that never was a candidate to compete for a playoff spot. Bad drafts have hurt. Guard Kyle Long and receiver Alshon Jeffery were good picks, but the last five drafts are really thin on impact players, or even solid contributors. The last two drafts do look a little more promising, however. Most of the recent free-agent additions have been band-aid players who are 30 or older and not potential foundation players (McPhee and tight end Martellus Bennett are exceptions). Having the general manager/coach combination of Phil Emery and Trestman fail after just two seasons set the franchise back. And Cutler's contract isn't the only problem but it is a problem. You can't pay a quarterback like he's a Pro Bowler and have him be below average every year. They'd have been better off sticking with Josh McCown for a fraction of the price in 2014 and using him as a bridge until a draft pick was ready, while pumping the cap savings into the defense. How much better off would the Bears be now if they would have let Cutler walk and then drafted Teddy Bridgewater or Derek Carr instead of Fuller? The Bears got stuck in the NFL's middle class and couldn't admit they should rebuild. That approach hasn't even resulted in a playoff appearance since a loss to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC title game at the end of the 2010 season. The Cutler extension was the sign of a team that didn't have much clarity or self-awareness. Either they truly (and wrongly) believed they were a contender or were just too paralyzed by fear of the unknown to start over. Either way, the roster decayed and it has led to this: The once-proud Bears are the worst team in the NFL at this moment. You'd think that the Bears won't be very bad for long, because they never are, but rebuilds take a long time and it seems like the Bears just started. Only two teams in the NFL had an older roster last season, and they're just the 19th youngest roster this season, according to PhillyVoice.com . All Bears fans can hope is their stay at the bottom doesn't last too long. Here are Shutdown Corner's power rankings after Week 2: 32. Chicago Bears (0-2, Last week: 28) Simple question for Bears fans: What about this team gives you any hope moving forward to 2016 and beyond?
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