Bears at 49ers
- Watch live on NBC and Peacock.
- Both teams are 11-4, and a victory tonight would put them closer to a possible No. 1 seed in the NFC postseason.
- Chicago has won seven of its last eight games. San Francisco has won five straight.
The Bears will need another Caleb Williams comeback
Caleb Williams has six fourth-quarter comebacks/game-winning drives this season, most recently in last week’s overtime thriller against the Green Bay Packers. Does he have a seventh one in him this season?
Purdy's fifth touchdown gives 49ers a 42-38 lead
Brock Purdy has 303 passing yards after his 38-yard touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings helps the 49ers come from behind to take a 42-38 lead with 2:15 to play in the fourth quarter. The drive was kept alive by a costly hands-to-the-face penalty by Chicago, and San Francisco scored just three plays later.
Bears settle for field goal after long drive
Chicago made it all the way inside the 49ers’ 10-yard line, but after a shovel pass that went for a loss and a Caleb Williams incompletion, the Bears kicked a 29-yard field goal to take a 38-35 lead.
Will three points be enough to win this shootout? Ben Johnson may be regretting that shovel pass call on second and goal if Chicago’s defense can’t make a stop.
McCaffrey achievement watch
Along with his 136 yards on the ground, Christian McCaffrey has 20 receiving yards tonight. That leaves him 131 yards receiving short of 1,000 for the season — if he reaches that milestone, he'll become the first player in NFL history to have multiple seasons with both 1,000-plus rushing and 1,000-plus receiving yards.
One of NFL's best games all season
In my totally unscientific rankings of games this season, the Seahawks-Rams game from Week 16, which came down to the final play in overtime and gave Seattle the inside track to the NFC's No. 1 seed, has to be near or at the top. But this game, which also will go a long way to determining whether Chicago or San Francisco will grab the top seed, has been just as entertaining from the very first snap.
A rare punt!
The 49ers punt early in the fourth quarter, ending a streak of three consecutive touchdown drives between both teams. It's San Francisco's second punt in the last three games.
Brock Purdy's touchdown outburst
In his last seven quarters, Purdy has scored nine touchdowns. They included a career-high five touchdown passes last week against Indianapolis, a game 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan described as a nearly perfect performance.
Tonight, Purdy has completed 20 of his 28 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns with an interception and also run for two touchdowns.
Historic matchup tonight
Second-most points allowed by San Francisco this season
Chicago's 35 points are second only to the 42 points San Francisco allowed the Rams in Week 10. There were some warning signs, in retrospect, about this defense after the 49ers allowed 24 points to the woeful Titans on Dec. 14, then 27 to Indianapolis, led by 44-year-old Philip Rivers, on Monday.
And we’re tied yet again
The first play from scrimmage in the fourth quarter had the same result as the first play from scrimmage in the first: a Bears touchdown.
D'Andre Swift dodged multiple 49ers defenders for a 22-yard scoring scamper. Swift’s run was set up by a fourth-down conversion a play before.
Chicago marched 80 yards in 10 plays in just under five minutes to even things at 35. What a game!
