A wild victory in Week 17 on “Sunday Night Football” has put the San Francisco 49ers one win away from earning the NFC’s top playoff seed and a first-round bye.
A game of constant scoring ended with a final defensive stand, when a pass by Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams with no time remaining fell just short of his intended receiver in the end zone, clinching San Francisco’s 42-38 victory.
If the 49ers (12-4) win next week’s regular-season finale against the Seattle Seahawks, they will earn the conference’s top postseason seed.
The Bears (11-5), who had already won the NFC North crown Saturday after a loss by division rival Green Bay, also had a path to the conference’s top seed had they won Sunday, but their narrow loss rules out that possibility.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more touchdowns. Running back Christian McCaffrey gained 140 yards on the ground and 41 more as a receiver.
Williams threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns for Chicago, with Luther Burden III accounting for 138 of those yards, including a touchdown.
The pace of the game’s nearly nonstop scoring was set from the very first play from scrimmage, when a pass by Purdy was deflected in a collision and intercepted by Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards, who returned it 34 yards for a stunning defensive touchdown.
Purdy made history by becoming the only player ever to throw for a touchdown, rush for another and throw a pick six all in a game’s first quarter.
From there, the teams went on to forge ties at 7-7, 14-14, 21-21, 28-28 and 35-35 — the first time such a back-and-forth sequence had happened in NFL history.
With 5:22 left in the fourth quarter, the Bears took a 38-35 lead on a field goal, but it lasted only three minutes.
Purdy’s fifth touchdown, a 38-yard pass to Jauan Jennings with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter, gave San Francisco a 42-38 lead.
It set the stage for the Bears to do what they have done all season and win in a comeback. Their six wins after trailing with two minutes to play in the fourth quarter are the most in a single season in NFL history.
Facing third-and-10 with a minute remaining, the Bears converted a key first down when Williams found Burden open. With 33 seconds left, facing fourth down, Williams found an open tight end, Colston Loveland, to move Chicago within 13 yards of a game-winning score.
Needing a touchdown to win the game, Chicago moved to the 2-yard line with four seconds remaining and one final snap to come from behind yet again. Williams spun and sprinted away from two 49ers defenders, with the nine other 49ers dropped back into coverage or shadowing Williams against scrambling, but eventually he ran out of room near the sideline and threw a pass into the end zone that was just short of his receiver’s outstretched arms.
With one game remaining in the regular season, McCaffrey needs 110 receiving yards to become the first player in NFL history with multiple seasons of 1,000-plus rushing yards and 1,000-plus receiving yards, after having also done it in 2019.
Purdy, CMC, Jake Tonges talk massive win against Bears
Game over! 49ers win!
What a finish!
Caleb Williams drove the Bears all the way to the 2-yard line, but he could not find a receiver in the end zone as time expired. Williams scrambled to his left and evaded multiple defenders but couldn’t connect with Jahdae Walker in the end zone.
The 49ers win 42-38.
Final: San Francisco 42, Chicago 38
Needing a touchdown to win with four seconds left, just 2 yards from the end zone, Caleb Williams scrambled and spun away from defenders before his pass was just too low and too short ahead of his intended receiver. The incompletion secured a 49ers win that improves them to 12-4, while the Bears fall to 11-5.
The 49ers control their path to the NFC's No. 1 seed if they win next week's regular-season finale.
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.
