The 49ers needed Sunday's 33-22 win over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in the worst way.
Mired in a four-game losing streak, the 49ers' season was in danger of slipping away before the calendar turned to November. The 49ers trailed the Bears 13-9 at halftime, and with their offense unable to finish drives and defense having a hard time containing Justin Fields, the 49ers were 30 minutes away from being 2-5 and seeing themselves out of the playoff discussion.
But with their backs against the wall, Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers fought back, outscoring the Bears 24-9 in the second half to snap their losing streak and stabilize a sinking ship.
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The win lifted the pressure off the 49ers, at least momentarily, and coach Kyle Shanahan's expletive-filled postgame speech illustrates how big the win was.
“I’m so f--king proud of you guys man,” Shanahan told the team. “I know everything didn’t go perfect in that game. We talked about whatever it f--king takes. [Brandon] Aiyuk, f--king awesome job, all you on the first drive. F--king O-line, the challenge of that D-line and no sacks, keeping everyone off Jimmy all game. There’s so many ways to win a f--king game today. D, I know we didn’t have our best game, but we did what it f--king took to win. That’s what f--king matters.”
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San Francisco 49ers
Shanahan gave the game balls to punter Mitch Wishnowsky's wife, Maddie, who gave birth to the couple's first child earlier in the week, and to Garoppolo, who silenced some of his critics with a much-needed performance in his hometown.
“He, like everyone in here, has had his back against the wall," Shanahan said of Garoppolo. "He stood right f--king up to it and went f--king off today.”
After getting the game ball, Garoppolo had a message for a suddenly energized 49ers team.
"Hey, Kyle said it all f--king all week, just whatever it takes," Garoppolo said. "You know? Whatever it f--king takes to win the game, man. It was a dog fight out there, but that's what we f--king do, though. That's who we are, all right? Let's keep this momentum, ride this s--t into next week. Enjoy it right now, but we're on to the next week as soon as we get back, all right?"
After celebrating the win with the team, Shanahan succinctly summed up how important that win was for the embattled 49ers.
"Huge. I mean, you guys know how it is," Shanahan said Sunday after the win. "You lose a couple in a row in the NFL, and it's tough. We've lost four in a row. So that was very needed for a lot of people."