Santa Clara – It was a battle from start to finish. Down to the final seconds, the 49ers showcased their best defense of the night, holding off a potent Chicago Bears offense to secure a 48–32 victory in what quickly became an NFC showdown. San Francisco faced the challenge without star tight end George Kittle, sidelined with an ankle injury, and veteran offensive tackle Trent Williams, who left the game with a hamstring strain on the opening drive.
With key playmakers sidelined, Brock Purdy took the spotlight, Purdy delivered arguably his best performance this season, completing 24 of 33 passes for 303 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. Purdy also scrambled for two rushing touchdowns, displaying a level of versatility and dominance rarely seen. Tonight, he was simply unstoppable, leading San Francisco to a decisive victory and keeping their NFC title hopes alive.
“I thought Brock had a hell of a game, again,” said Kyle Shanahan. “Brock’s been playing his ass off, made some huge plays in this game, kept some drives alive with his legs, made some off-schedule plays, and was an assassin out there throughout the whole day.”
With 303 passing yards, three touchdown passes, and two rushing scores, Purdy made franchise history, becoming the first quarterback in 49ers history to post at least 300 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and two rushing touchdowns in a single game. He also became the first Niners quarterback to record multiple passing and rushing touchdowns in the same game since Jeff Garcia, who threw four touchdown passes and added two rushing scores against Arizona on December 7, 2003.
“It was fun, but for me it always starts with doing my job,” said Purdy. “When you execute, you score, and then you can enjoy it. We’ve got such a great group of guys, Kendrick Bourne, Jauan Jennings, Demarcus Robinson, everyone brings energy. When we’re clicking, it’s easy to feed off that. It’s been a crazy year and a fun one, but we’ve still got one more regular-season game. We’re locked in and focused on finishing the job.”
The Niners offense spread the ball around in a complete team performance, giving nearly everyone a chance to contribute. Jennings, Jake Tonges, who filled in for Kittle, along with Kyle Juszczyk and Christian McCaffrey, all found the end zone, highlighting the depth and versatility of San Francisco’s attack.
The 49ers piled up 330 total yards in the first half, its most in a half since recording 394 yards against Atlanta on Sept. 27, 1998. The offense kept its foot on the gas, finishing with a season-high 496 total yards, the most in a game since posting 527 yards against Seattle on Dec. 10, 2023. The Niners also moved the chains at will, registering a season-high 32 first downs, the highest single-game total for the franchise since recording 33 first downs against Arizona on Oct. 7, 2018.
“Oh, he did great,” Purdy said on Tonges. “When George Kittle went down, having another tight end step in who not only knows his role but also makes plays and forces the defense to account for him is huge for us. That’s awesome. For him to come in and really produce, being a hometown kid aside, he’s got length, great hands, and he’s someone I trust. It’s special to have two tight ends like that on this team.”
The Bears had one final opportunity at the two-minute warning. With just 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock, Chicago had driven downfield in what felt like the longest two minutes of the 49ers’ season. Exhausted but determined, San Francisco’s defense had one goal: stop the play. That opportunity came when the Bears reached the red zone, and Caleb Williams’ final pass was a grounder in the end zone, sealing the victory for the 49ers. Players collapsed in a mix of joy and exhaustion, celebrating a hard-fought win.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” said Williams. “You never want to lose, especially when you’re in a position at the end with a chance to win. We have to be better. It comes down to execution, we made too many mistakes as a team, whether it was penalties, alignments, or assignments. We still have a great opportunity at the end of the season to put ourselves in a strong position and get back on a roll heading into the playoffs. The focus now is understanding what went wrong today and using that to get better moving forward.”
“We’re going to play man coverage, that’s how we’re going to go out,” Ji’Ayir Brown said. “Play defense, let’s go. Play your best ball. It’s time.”
San Francisco shook off a shaky start to outlast Chicago in a back-and-forth battle defined by explosive plays and late drama.
The Niners opened the game with an interception returned for a touchdown by T.J. Edwards, but Purdy quickly responded, leading a scoring drive capped by a one-yard touchdown pass to Tonges. McCaffrey ignited the offense with a 41-yard run that set up Purdy’s 10-yard scramble for a touchdown, though the Bears answered twice behind long scoring strikes from Williams to keep the game tied.
A key penalty wiped out a potential Purdy interception late in the second quarter, and the quarterback capitalized by rushing in for his second touchdown to give the 49ers a 28–21 halftime lead. Purdy finished the half 14-of-20 for 164 yards, while McCaffrey piled up 121 rushing yards.
The second half matched the intensity. D’Andre Swift scored twice for Chicago, including a 22-yard run early in the fourth quarter, before a Bears field goal put them ahead 38–35 with just over three minutes remaining.
Purdy delivered in the clutch. After a defensive penalty extended the drive, he connected with Jennings on a 38-yard touchdown pass with 2:15 left, sealing the win.
McCaffrey powered the offense all night, finishing with a season-high 140 rushing yards on 23 carries and a touchdown, plus four catches for 41 yards.
The Bears entered the matchup tied with the Niners, and both teams had already clinched playoff spots. Still, only one can claim the NFC’s top seed, and that will be decided next Saturday night when the 49ers host the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in the final game of the regular season.
Photo by 49ers/Twitter
