The San Francisco 49ers remain in the hunt for the No. 1 seed after one of the games of the season in the NFL.
The Niners escaped Levi’s Stadium on Sunday night with a highly entertaining 42-38 victory over the visiting Chicago Bears. With the victory, the 49ers improved to 12-4 on the year and can be the No. 1 seed in the NFC if they beat the visiting Seattle Seahawks (13-3) in their final game of the regular season next Saturday night.
The Bears (11-5) had already clinched the NFC North title and a home playoff game with Green Bay’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday. However, first-year head coach Ben Johnson and his Bears showed some vulnerabilities in the team’s second loss in their last four games.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Brock Purdy is heating up at the right time for San Francisco
Purdy improved to 6-0 since returning from the injured reserve while nursing a turf toe injury. He threw an awful interception return for a touchdown 34 yards by Chicago linebacker T.J. Edwards on the opening play of the game.
After that, Purdy played high-level football and finished 24-of-33 for 303 yards and three touchdown passes with two rushing touchdowns. He has 19 total touchdowns and just four interceptions during that six-game winning streak.
And, oh yeah, the 49ers finally punted for the first time in the month of December – a string of 23 straight possessions without punting the football. Thomas Morstead punted twice on Sunday night.
2. Bears’ defense can’t contain McCaffrey and the 49ers’ ground game
McCaffrey entered Sunday’s game ranked second in the league in scrimmage yards (1,888) and topped 1,000 rushing yards last week. He torched Chicago’s run defense for a season-high 140 yards and a touchdown, serving as a nice balance to Purdy and San Francisco’s passing game.
McCaffrey now has 10 games with at least 100 scrimmage yards and a touchdown, tied for the most in the NFL.
Entering Sunday’s contest, the Bears allowed 131 rushing yards in a game (No. 27 in the NFL). The Bears must improve in that area if they expect to advance beyond the Wild Card round.
3. Caleb Williams closes in on a franchise-record 4,000 passing yards
Williams had another impressive performance for Chicago, keeping the Bears in the game by throwing for 330 yards and two touchdown passes. Williams now has 3,730 passing yards through 16 games. He needs just 109 yards to break the Bears’ single-season record of 3,838 yards held by Erik Kramer.
Williams needs 270 yards to become the first Chicago quarterback to eclipse the 4,000-yard passing mark in a season. He has completed just 59.5% of his passes, so accuracy remains an issue for the second-year quarterback out of USC.
4. Trent Williams‘ hamstring injury could be a tipping point for injury-ravaged 49ers
San Francisco has dealt with a barrage of injuries to frontline players this year. Linebacker Fred Warner and defensive ends Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams out for the rest of the season, while tight end George Kittle and Purdy have missed a handful of games on the other side of the ball
Williams, an All-Pro left tackle, was the latest to go down on Sunday night with a hamstring injury on the opening play and having to leave the game. Williams was replaced at left tackle by Austen Pleasants and did not return.
Williams being out for an extended period could prove too much for the 49ers to overcome. Since 2020, the 49ers are 60-32 with Williams in the lineup and 4-12 without him while averaging five fewer points per game.
4 ½. What’s next?
San Francisco hosts Seattle with the NFC West division title and the No. 1 seed on the line, which is admirable for 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan considering all the injury issues his team has faced this season. That game will be on Saturday night at 8 p.m. ET.
The Bears are locked into the No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the NFC and will finish the regular season by hosting the NFC North-rival Detroit Lions. Head coach Ben Johnson will end the season by facing his former team for a second time.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on X at @eric_d_williams.
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