Every NFL season is wild for so many reasons.
There is always something surprising, teams or players that come out of nowhere to have a great season, no one saw coming. And teams many expect to be fantastic but end up disappointing.
The other great thing about the NFL season is its condensed nature, which elevates each game, but the season lasts long enough that portions of it seem so far from others.
For example, it wasn’t that long ago that analysts and fans were wondering who the really good teams
were in the league. And now, it seems like week 18 might end up with minimal implications for teams as seeding might all get settled.
The NFC is somewhat loaded, with the NFC West featuring two of the league’s best, Seattle and the Los Angeles Rams, while the NFC North proved to be as difficult as it appeared to be in the preseason. The north might send two teams the playoffs, while the west will have three.
The Chicago Bears face the San Francisco 49ers Sunday. And if Bears fans had been told when the schedule came out that this week 17 matchup would be between two teams with 11 wins, I’m not sure anyone would have believed you.
The most optimistic of fans generally saw 10 or 11 wins over the full 17-game slate. And I don’t know that too many would’ve thought all 11 would be done through 15 games.
Let’s see what this San Francisco team is all about.
San Francisco 49ers
SB Nation site: Niners Nation
Record: 11-4, second in NFC West
Last week: 48-27 win over the Colts
Game day, time, TV: Sunday, 7:20 p.m. CT, NBC
Spread: The 49ers are 3-point favorites
Bears all-time record against: 33-36-1 including postseason
Historical meetings: Week 16, 2018. The 10-4 Bears went to San Francisco Santa Clara to face the 4-10 49ers.
Starting Nick Mullens, the 49ers scored nine points in the second quarter on three Robbie Gould field goals.
One came after Mitch Trubisky fumbled a snap. In between the second and third San Fran field goals, Trubisky hit Anthony Miller for a 4-yard touchdown.
In the third quarter, Jordan Howard scored on a two-yard touchdown.
That was all that was needed; the Bears won 14-9.
Last meeting: Week 14 last year. The Bears got absolutely trounced by the 49ers.
Caleb Williams was sacked seven times.
San Francisco took a commanding 24-0 halftime lead. Brock Purdy hit Jauan Jennings twice for touchdowns, Isaac Guerendo scored a touchdown and Jake Moody added a field goal.
In the second half, Caleb Williams hit Rome Odunze twice for touchdowns but the 49ers scored twice more with Guerendo scoring again and Patrick Taylor scoring late.
The 49ers won 38-13.
Injury report: The 49ers had eight players on their Wednesday injury report.
Limited
- CB Renardo Green (neck)
- WR Ricky Pearsall (knee/ankle)
Did not participate
- RB Christian McCaffrey (NIR – rest)
- DE Yetur Gross-Matos (knee)
- TE George Kittle (ankle)
- T Trent Williams (NIR – rest)
Offense: The 49ers enter week 17 ranked ninth in yards and points.
Their passing game ranks fifth and their rushing offense ranks 24th.
Brock Purdy (65.7 pct. cmp./2,707 yds./13 TD/8 INT) has bounced back from his injury earlier this season and played perhaps his best game last week. His weapons start with Christian McCaffrey (92 rec./849 yds./7 TD receiving and 280 att./1,039 yds./9 TD rushing) and George Kittle (52 rec./599 yds./7 TD). Followed by Jauan Jennings (49 rec./566 yds./8 TD), Kendrick Bourne (36/526/0), Ricky Pearsall (31/443/0) and Jake Tonges (27/233/4).
McCaffrey is doing most of the work himself, but Brian Robinson Jr. (86/369/2) backs him up.
Defense: The 49ers defense comes into this game ranked 11th in points allowed and 18th in yards allowed.
Their passing defense ranks 23rd and their rushing defense ranks eighth.
Led by LBs Dee Winters (92 tkls/7 TFL/3 QB hits/5 PD/1 INT) and Tatum Bethune (76 tkls/2 TFL/2 PD) are the leading tacklers.
The pass rush is without Nick Bosa, making Bryce Huff (4 sk/6 TFL/15 QB hits/2 FF) and Clelin Ferrell (4 sk/4 TFL/5 QB hits) the leaders in sacks for San Fran.
Renardo Green (9 PD/52 tkl), Deommodore Lenoir (2 INT/54 tkl/5 PD/3 TFL), Ji’Ayir Brown (2 INT/64 tkl/5 PD/2 TFL) and Malik Mustapha (1 INT/2 PD/68 tkl) lead the defensive backfield.
Key matchups: The defense has to come up with stops. The 49ers have one of the most potent offenses in the league and are just off a 48-point performance.
Christian McCaffrey is the key cog but Brock Purdy has plenty of other weapons at his disposal. Last year, George Kittle had 151 yards against Chicago, while Jauan Jennings had two touchdowns.
The offense has to keep its foot on the gas. Get the running game going and take those play-action shots when you can. The 49ers are just ahead of the Bears, scoring 26.1 points per game, while Chicago is at 25.8.
Key stats
- San Francisco ranks 20th in defensive takeaways with 10. The Bears have over three times as many, ranking first.
- The 49ers have 14 interceptions thrown by their QBs. While six of those are on Mac Jones filling in for Purdy, Brock has thrown eight in just seven games.
- McCaffrey leads the league in touches with 372. He’s averaging 5.1 yards per touch. The Bears are allowing 5.9 yards per play to opponents.
- Former Bears kicker Eddy Piñero leads the league with a 96.4 percent field goal percentage.
- The 49ers have the fewest sacks in the league and the second-worst pressure percentage in the league.
- San Francisco has the second-lowest blitz percentage in the league, 17.7 percent.
What is it going to take to win Sunday night? Can the Bears get it done against a veteran team like the 49ers?
