In the end, the 49ers got the stop.
In an intensely contested Sunday night matchup between two of the NFC’s top teams, San Francisco held on to get a 42-38 victory — setting up a matchup with Seattle for the NFC West crown and the conference’s No. 1 overall seed next Saturday night.
The 49ers and Bears went back and forth throughout the contest, with Chicago taking a 7-0 lead on a pick-six off Brock Purdy on San Francisco’s first play from scrimmage. But the 49ers came back to go up 14-7 before the game had ties of 14-14, 21-21, 28-28, and 35-35.
The two teams finally got some separation late in the fourth quarter, as Caleb Williams couldn’t complete a pass on third-and-goal from the 11, leaving Cairo Santos to connect on a 29-yard field goal to make the score 38-35 with 5:22 left in the contest.
The 49ers came back to score perhaps a little sooner than they would’ve liked, as Purdy hit Jauan Jennings for a go-ahead, 38-yard touchdown with 2:15 left in the contest.
The Bears still had all three of their timeouts ahead of the two-minute warning. They didn’t need to use one of them until there were 40 seconds left, after the Bears got down to the San Francisco 26-yard line. Williams then completed a 13-yard pass to Colston Loveland on fourth-and-5 to keep the game alive.
But after another pass to Loveland was stopped at the 2-yard line, the Bears — now out of timeouts — had to spike the ball to stop the clock with just four seconds left. On the game’s last play, Williams could not find anyone open initially and extended the play. But he was hit by Yetur Gross-Matos just as he was trying to deliver the ball to Jahdae Walker in the end zone, and the ball was short and incomplete.
The 49ers had held on.
Purdy put together his second game in a row with five touchdowns, this time passing for three and rushing for two. He finished 24-of-33 for 303 yards along with six rushes for 28 yards.
Christian McCaffrey continued to carry the load offensively, taking 23 carries for 140 yards with a touchdown, along with catching four passes for 41 yards.
On the other side, Williams finished 25-of-42 for 330 yards with two touchdowns. D’Andre Swift had nine carries for 54 yards with two touchdowns. Luther Burden — who was injured on the last play of the game — caught eight passes for 138 yards with a TD. Loveland had six receptions for 94 yards with one touchdown.
Both offenses had their way, as Chicago finished with 440 total yards, 26 first downs, and 6-of-12 on third down. San Francisco had 496 yards, 32 first downs, and was 7-of-10 on third down.
With the win, San Francisco moves to 12-4 and will square off with Seattle for the NFC West and the conference’s No. 1 overall seed. That game will take place at 8:00 p.m. on ABC and ESPN next Saturday night.
The Bears fall to 11-5. As NFC North champions, they will be the conference’s No. 2 seed if they defeat the Lions at home next weekend.
There’s been a little history made on Sunday night.
D’Andre Swift scored on a 22-yard run to open the fourth quarter, tying the score at 35-35 with 14:54 left in regulation.
As noted by the NBC broadcast, it’s the first time in the regular season a game has been tied at 7-7, 14-14, 21-21, 28-28, and 35-35. It’s happened once before in the postseason.
Quarterback Caleb Williams kept the drive going with a 27-yard pass to Luther Burden on third-and-8. Then he hit Colston Loveland for a 9-yard gain on fourth-and-5 to close the third quarter.
Swift went up the middle for his second rushing touchdown of the night to tie things up at 35-all.
So far, Williams is 15-of-23 for 224 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
On the injury front, Bears linebacker Noah Sewell is out with an ankle injury.
Brock Purdy is dancin’ tonight.
After Chicago opened the second half with a touchdown, Purdy brought San Francisco’s offense down for a score of its own to put his team up 35-28.
Purdy made the play on first-and-goal from the 6, rolling to his left before evading a pair of would-be tacklers, moving up to the line of scrimmage, and firing over to the left side to a wide-open Kyle Juszczyk for a touchdown.
Purdy is now 18-of-24 for 209 for two touchdowns and an interception, plus five carries for 23 yards with two TDs.
With 4:52 left in the third quarter, the 49ers are averaging 7.1 yards per play while the Bears are averaging 7.6 yards per play.
But before Purdy’s touchdown, Bears linebacker Noah Sewell was carted off the field after suffering an apparent lower-leg injury midway through the third quarter.
The injury was non-contact, with Sewell grabbing at the back of his leg after the play.
Sewell, 23, was a Bears fifth-round pick in 2023. He entered Week 17 having appeared in 12 games with eight starts, recording 58 total tackles with three tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
Additionally, Bears defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka has been ruled out with a concussion.
The Bears have tied the matchup with the 49ers early in the third quarter.
D’Andre Swift took in a 2-yard touchdown to make the score 28-28 with 9:51 left in the third quarter.
Swift’s score capped Chicago’s 10-play, 65-yard drive to open the second half. The possession took 5:09 off the clock after the Bears held the ball for just 8:04 in the first 30 minutes.
Quarterback Caleb Williams connected with receiver Jahdae Walker on third-and-14 for a 19-yard gain to keep the chains moving.
On the next play, Williams hit Luther Burden for a 24-yard gain down to the 3.
A couple of plays later, Swift converted third-and-goal from the 2 with his touchdown run.
Notably, 49ers left tackle Trent Williams has been downgraded to out with the hamstring injury he suffered in the first quarter.
The 49ers and Bears have gone back and forth in the first half on Sunday night, but San Francisco is holding a 28-21 lead at halftime.
Things got off to an inauspicious start for San Francisco when Brock Purdy threw a pick-six on the first play from scrimmage, as linebacker T.J. Edwards returned the seventh interception of his career 34 yards for a touchdown.
But from there, the 49ers scored 14 straight points with a Purdy 1-yard touchdown pass followed by a Purdy 10-yard touchdown run. Per the NBC broadcast, it was the first time a QB had ever thrown a touchdown, rushed for a touchdown, and thrown a pick-six all in the first quarter.
Purdy’s touchdown run was the start of five consecutive TD drives by the two teams. Luther Burden caught a 35-yard strike from Caleb Williams to tie the score. Christian McCaffrey rushed for a 5-yard touchdown, his 10th rushing TD of the year. Colston Loveland caught a 36-yard touchdown to tie it up again. Then Purdy ran in his second TD of the night, this time from 3 yards out to put San Francisco up by seven.
The Bears finally ended the string of scores when they had to punt with about 1:15 left in the half.
McCaffrey has rushed for 121 yards on 18 carries, also catching two passes for 20 yards.
Purdy is 14-of-20 for 164 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
The 49ers have racked up 330 total yards, 22 first downs, and are 5-of-7 on third down — dominating time of possession 21:56 to 8:04.
But Chicago has gotten some good throws out of Williams, who is 6-of-12 for 108 yards with two touchdowns at halftime.
On the injury front, 49ers left tackle Trent Williams had to exit after Purdy’s pick-six with a hamstring injury and has not returned. At this point, it appears doubtful that he will, though he’s only been announced as questionable.
The Bears will receive the second-half kickoff.
