{"id":108941,"date":"2025-12-25T19:07:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T19:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/108941\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T19:07:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T19:07:14","slug":"week-17-nfl-game-preview-san-francisco-49ers-vs-chicago-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/108941\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 17 NFL game preview: San Francisco 49ers vs. Chicago Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Every NFL season is wild for so many reasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">For example, it wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The NFC is somewhat loaded, with the NFC West featuring two of the league\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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\u2019m not sure anyone would have believed you.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The most optimistic of fans generally saw 10 or 11 wins over the full 17-game slate. And I don\u2019t know that too many would\u2019ve thought all 11 would be done through 15 games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Let\u2019s see what this San Francisco team is all about.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">SB Nation site: <a href=\"http:\/\/ninersnation.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Niners Nation<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Record: 11-4, second in NFC West<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Last week: 48-27 win over the Colts<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Game day, time, TV: Sunday, 7:20 p.m. CT, NBC<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Spread: The 49ers are 3-point favorites<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Bears all-time record against: 33-36-1 including postseason<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Historical meetings: Week 16, 2018. The 10-4 Bears went to San Francisco Santa Clara to face the 4-10 49ers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Starting Nick Mullens, the 49ers scored nine points in the second quarter on three Robbie Gould field goals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">In the third quarter, Jordan Howard scored on a two-yard touchdown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">That was all that was needed; the Bears won 14-9.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Last meeting: Week 14 last year. The Bears got absolutely trounced by the 49ers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Caleb Williams was sacked seven times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Injury report: The 49ers had eight players on their Wednesday injury report.<\/p>\n<p>CB Renardo Green (neck)WR Ricky Pearsall (knee\/ankle)RB Christian McCaffrey (NIR &#8211; rest)DE Yetur Gross-Matos (knee)TE George Kittle (ankle)T Trent Williams (NIR &#8211; rest)<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Offense: The 49ers enter week 17 ranked ninth in yards and points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Their passing game ranks fifth and their rushing offense ranks 24th.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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).<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">McCaffrey is doing most of the work himself, but Brian Robinson Jr. (86\/369\/2) backs him up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Defense: The 49ers defense comes into this game ranked 11th in points allowed and 18th in yards allowed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Their passing defense ranks 23rd and their rushing defense ranks eighth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Renardo Green (9 PD\/52 tkl), Deommodore Lenoir (2 INT\/54 tkl\/5 PD\/3 TFL), Ji\u2019Ayir Brown (2 INT\/64 tkl\/5 PD\/2 TFL) and Malik Mustapha (1 INT\/2 PD\/68 tkl) lead the defensive backfield.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s averaging 5.1 yards per touch. The Bears are allowing 5.9 yards per play to opponents.Former Bears kicker Eddy Pi\u00f1ero 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">What is it going to take to win Sunday night? Can the Bears get it done against a veteran team like the 49ers?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every NFL season is wild for so many reasons. There is always something surprising, teams or players that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[56664,58612,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-108941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-chicago-bears-game-information","tag-chicago-bears-news","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}