4 Takeaways From the 49ers' Win Over the Bears

[ad_1] The San Francisco 49ers stay within the hunt for the No. 1 seed after one of many video games of the season within the NFL.

The Niners escaped Levi's Stadium on Sunday night time with a extremely entertaining 42-38 victory over the visiting Chicago Bears. With the victory, the 49ers improved to 12-4 on the yr and will be the No. 1 seed within the NFC in the event that they beat the visiting Seattle Seahawks (13-3) of their ultimate recreation of the common season subsequent Saturday night time.

The Bears (11-5) had already clinched the NFC North title and a house playoff recreation with Inexperienced Bay’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday. Nonetheless, first-year head coach Ben Johnson and his Bears confirmed some vulnerabilities within the group’s second loss of their final 4 video games.

Listed here are my takeaways:

1. Brock Purdy is heating up on the proper time for San Francisco Purdy improved to 6-0 since getting back from the injured reserve whereas nursing a turf toe damage. He threw an terrible interception return for a landing 34 yards by Chicago linebacker T.J. Edwards on the opening play of the sport.

After that, Purdy performed high-level soccer and completed 24-of-33 for 303 yards and three landing passes with two dashing touchdowns. He has 19 whole touchdowns and simply 4 interceptions throughout that six-game profitable streak.

And, oh yeah, the 49ers lastly punted for the primary time within the month of December – a string of 23 straight possessions with out punting the soccer. Thomas Morstead punted twice on Sunday night time.

2. Bears’ protection can’t include McCaffrey and the 49ers' floor recreation McCaffrey entered Sunday’s recreation ranked second within the league in scrimmage yards (1,888) and topped 1,000 dashing yards final week. He torched Chicago’s run protection for a season-high 140 yards and a landing, serving as a pleasant steadiness to Purdy and San Francisco’s passing recreation.

McCaffrey now has 10 video games with a minimum of 100 scrimmage yards and a landing, tied for probably the most within the NFL.Coming into Sunday’s contest, the Bears allowed 131 dashing yards in a recreation (No. 27 within the NFL). The Bears should enhance in that space in the event that they count on to advance past the Wild Card spherical.

NFL Playoff Image After the 49ers Beat the Bears 3. Caleb Williams closes in on a franchise-record 4,000 passing yards Williams had one other spectacular efficiency for Chicago, maintaining the Bears within the recreation by throwing for 330 yards and two landing passes. Williams now has 3,730 passing yards by means of 16 video games. He wants simply 109 yards to interrupt the Bears’ single-season report of three,838 yards held by Erik Kramer.

Williams wants 270 yards to develop into the primary Chicago quarterback to eclipse the 4,000-yard passing mark in a season. He has accomplished simply 59.5% of his passes, so accuracy stays a difficulty for the second-year quarterback out of USC.

4. Trent Williams' hamstring damage may very well be a tipping level for injury-ravaged 49ers San Francisco has handled a barrage of accidents to frontline gamers this yr. Linebacker Fred Warner and defensive ends Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams out for the remainder of the season, whereas tight finish George Kittle and Purdy have missed a handful of video games on the opposite facet of the ball

Williams, an All-Professional left sort out, was the newest to go down on Sunday night time with a hamstring damage on the opening play and having to depart the sport. Williams was changed at left sort out by Austen Pleasants and didn't return.

Williams being out for an prolonged interval may show an excessive amount of for the 49ers to beat. Since 2020, the 49ers are 60-32 with Williams within the lineup and 4-12 with out him whereas averaging 5 fewer factors per recreation.

4 ½. What’s subsequent? San Francisco hosts Seattle with the NFC West division title and the No. 1 seed on the road, which is admirable for 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan contemplating all of the damage points his group has confronted this season. That recreation will likely be on Saturday night time at 8 p.m. ET.

The Bears are locked into the No. 2 or No. 3 seed within the NFC and can end the common season by internet hosting the NFC North-rival Detroit Lions. Head coach Ben Johnson will finish the season by dealing with his former group for a second time.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for greater than a decade, masking the Los Angeles Rams for Sports activities Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma Information Tribune. Observe him on X at @eric_d_williams.

Need nice tales delivered proper to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports activities account, and observe leagues, groups and gamers to obtain a customized publication every day!