The 49ers' 33-22 win over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday was a must-win game.
Losers of four straight games, San Francisco badly needed a win to stay alive in the NFC playoff picture.
The 49ers' win on Sunday came against a lowly Bears team that has yet to really establish a true identity this season. In fact, all three of the 49ers' wins this season have come against teams (Lions, Eagles, Bears) with a combined record of 6-18.
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NBC Sports' NFL Columnist Peter King joined 95.7 The Game's "Damon & Ratto," and explained why Sunday's win was so meaningful for coach Kyle Shanahan, who absolutely needed to get his team back on track as soon as possible.
“I don’t look at this as saying that win is meaningless," King said. "That win is meaningful, I think it’s one of the most meaningful wins Shanahan’s had in San Francisco for a very simple reason. There are some games you can’t lose, that was a game you cannot lose, and they found a way to win it and make some positive plays.
“To have a quarterback who is not particularly known as a mobile guy run for two touchdowns and really have the confidence, and seeming to have a lot in his team and a lot of players on his team being really fired up about how they actually played that game. They found a way to win.”
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San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have not won a game against a good team so far this season, even though they've had opportunities against the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals. All three of those losses were one-score games.
If Shanahan and the 49ers are to string together a few wins and re-establish themselves as a playoff contender, Sunday's win over the Bears might have been the spark they needed.