It’s safe to say few picked the Chicago Bears over the 49ers as the NFL’s upset of the week.
Except maybe those in the Chicago locker room.
After the team’s shocking 19-10 win over San Francisco on Sunday at Soldier Field, Bears coach Matt Eberflus applauded the effort of his players.
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“I’m not surprised,” Eberflus told reporters. “I thought the guys executed, I thought that they hung in there, and that’s what you’ve got to do in the NFL. It’s never going to be perfect, it’s always going to be hard, always.
“And most times it comes down to the end, just like that. That’s the way the NFL is.”
The 49ers took a 7-0 lead into halftime of a game most predicted they would win. But by the season opener’s end, Justin Fields and the Bears took advantage of San Francisco’s many miscues and made some big plays of their own to storm back and win.
Bears safety Eddie Jackson told reporters after the game that stopping a high-caliber roster like the 49ers was a good feeling -- but not entirely unexpected.
San Francisco 49ers
“Nobody’s surprised in the locker room,” Jackson said. “Everybody outside is more surprised than we are.”
Jackson came up with a big interception off Trey Lance in the fourth quarter that helped keep momentum in the Bears’ favor. Shutting down the second-year quarterback was a big part of Chicago’s game plan, he said.
“Just trying to give him different looks. We know he’s a great player,” Jackson said. “... That’s really just a young quarterback. Year 2, didn’t play a lot last year, so just trying to get him to do something different that he’s not comfortable with, trying to get him to drop back and throw the ball and go through his reads.”
While Lance made a few plays with his legs and arm, the 49ers’ offense was relegated to just one touchdown courtesy of a 6-yard rush from wide receiver Deebo Samuel in the first half.
For Chicago to stop Samuel and Lance was a tall task even with tight end George Kittle out, and putting up 19 points on the 49ers’ top-rated defense was a welcome sight for a Bears team trying to prove themselves.
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But in Jackson’s eyes, they knew they were capable of the upset.
“We know who we got, and I’ve been saying I feel like we can shock a lot of people, surprise a lot of people with the way we work,” Jackson said. “And I feel like nobody works harder than us … What we’re building is something special.”
Week 1 didn’t go the way the 49ers hoped, but they’ll have another shot at building their special season when the Seattle Seahawks come to Levi’s Stadium for Week 2 next Sunday.