What was the worst Chicago Bears team ever? This is certainly not a subject fans would like to discuss too often. Nonetheless with the team facing a fourth-straight losing season it’s kind of a hard one to avoid. Most will likely stay close to home in this regard, referencing the 2016 team that finished 3-13 or the 2014 team that surrendered 50+ points in back-to-back games.
Many might hearken back to the late 1990s when Dave Wannstedt was wheezing to the head of his disappointing run as head coach with two-straight 4-12 finishes. Then of course there was the dark period of the early 1970s during which at one point the Bears won just 11 games in three years.
ESPN recently decided to broach this subject with its large cast of experts, picking out the worst team for each franchise. There were some obvious choices. The 0-16 Lions. The 2007 Dolphins and the 1990 Patriots. Some truly awful clubs. One would think the Bears might have an easy one to pick. Somehow they complicated matters.
Worst Chicago Bears team ever was not what they say
According to Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Chicago, the worst team in Bears history came in 1975. They finished 4-10 that season and were blown out by 14 points or more in nine games.
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“Looks can be deceiving. The Bears had a disappointing finish in 1975, but they also drafted future Hall of Famer Walter Payton fourth overall that spring. Payton rushed for just 679 yards as a rookie, and quarterback Bob Avellini passed for six touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a 57.4 passer rating. But brighter days were on the horizon.”
Though the team was epically bad at times, the fact they won four games kind of diminishes the luster of them being the worst team ever. In truth there was always a clear cut choice here. It wasn’t that one. This title, for better or worse, belongs to the 1969 Bears. They are the only team in franchise history to finish a season with only one win, going 1-13.
They were blown out by 14+ seven times, shut out twice and got their only win of the season against the other worst team in the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers. What makes that season all the worse? That lone victory ended up costing the Bears their chance to draft future Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw.
During the subsequent NFL draft it came down to a coin toss between Chicago and Pittsburgh. At stake was who got to pick first. The Steelers won and took Bradshaw. If the Bears had lost their game to the Steelers that season, they would’ve held the #1 pick and gotten a franchise quarterback. How is that not the worst season in every aspect?
