Santa Clara – A revitalized Niners team took the field, snapping their three-game skid in commanding fashion. Shaking off their recent struggles, they unleashed a dominant offense, showing no mercy in a 38-13 demolition of the Chicago Bears.
“Losing that close one at Seattle in the last play at home was so tough,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. “And then the following two weeks were as bad as it got, so we had to step it up today. I thought we did play well, and the most important thing was getting a win, and we got it done. I was proud of the guys, the way they came out and the way they finished.”
Brock Purdy looked like a quarterback on a mission, delivering an impressive performance with two touchdown passes, completing 20 of 25 attempts for 325 yards, and avoiding any interceptions. The offense as a whole was electric, scoring five touchdowns.
Jauan Jennings and Isaac Guerendo each found the end zone twice, while Patrick Taylor added his first touchdown of the season. Guerendo made a strong impression in his first start, rushing for 78 yards with two touchdowns and adding two receptions for 50 yards.
Running back Patrick Taylor Jr. recorded 7 carries for 25 yards and 1 touchdown, marking the second touchdown of his career and his first since scoring against Detroit on January 9, 2022, as a member of the Green Bay Packers.
Jennings recorded 7 receptions for 90 yards, including two touchdowns. These touchdown catches marked his sixth of the season and the 13th of his career. He now has two multi-touchdown games this season, including a three-touchdown performance against the Rams on September 22, 2024.
Purdy jump-started the offense with its best performance in weeks. He connected on deep passes to Guerendo and George Kittle for gains of 23 and 33 yards, setting up a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings. This quick score gave the 49ers an early 7-0 lead, marking their first touchdown on an opening possession since Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams.
“We just all executed, did our job, and kept it simple, Purdy said. “I don’t think guys were overthinking anything. Whatever it was called, we trusted in [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan], and we just executed. We were aggressive. Once we scored, the defense got a stop, we go back up, put some points up on the board, they got a turnover, and we scored, that’s team football.”
San Francisco maintained the momentum, with Guerendo capping another drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 14-0. By the second quarter, Jennings leaped into the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown pass from Purdy, extending the lead to 21-0.
Later, Purdy scrambled for what appeared to be a 5-yard touchdown, but a penalty nullified the score. Jake Moody then stepped in, drilling a 55-yard field goal to close the half with the 49ers leading 24-0.
The 49ers’ offense amassed 319 total net yards in the first half—the most by any team in the NFL this season and the highest first-half total for San Francisco since recording 319 yards against New Orleans on December 8, 2019.
On the other side of the ball, San Francisco’s defense stifled Chicago, holding their offense to just 4 total net yards in the first half—the fewest by any team in the NFL this season. The defense also sacked Bears quarterback Caleb Williams 7 times, marking their highest single-game sack total this season and the first time the unit has achieved 7 or more sacks in a game since October 3, 2022, against the Los Angeles Rams.
In the third quarter, Williams connected with Rome Odunze for a 4-yard touchdown, though the two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful. Later in the quarter, while attempting a pass, Williams fumbled the ball, which Evan Anderson recovered to end the period.
Early in the fourth quarter, Williams found Odunze again for a 14-yard touchdown, marking the final points for the Bears.
“We just got back to being us,” said Fred Warner. “The product we were putting on the field the last couple of weeks just wasn’t us. We knew that. We knew we had a great opportunity this week to come out at home, right those wrongs, and get back to playing our style and doing what we do best.
It was complimentary football all the way through, the way the offense came out and scored right away. Then we went out there on defense and got those stops early on and played a great half of football. There’s things to clean up in that second half, but we just have to build on this win.”
Up Next: The 49ers face a quick turnaround as they host the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football. This matchup is a crucial division game, with San Francisco now tied at 6-7 with the Arizona Cardinals, who lost earlier today. The Rams, one game ahead of the 49ers, will be a pivotal challenge on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks remain atop the division with an 8-5 record.
Photo by 49ers/Twitter
