49ers Lose to Bears in NFC Suckfest

Week 13 - In a match-up between the NFC's two worst teams -- the (2-9) Chicago Bears and the (1-11) San Francisco 49ers, the struggle would continue at damp and snowy Soldier Field. The poor conditions with slush-like snow falling from the sky helped make for an even uglier brand of football than we've grown accustomed to seeing from both teams this year. With the 49ers still seeking their first road win since a meeting with the Bears last December, neither team would complete a pass in the opening quarter as it was the ground game that both teams relied heavily on in the early going. That would be especially true for San Francisco as nearly every passing play was either incomplete or ended in a quarterback sack as QB Colin Kaepernick spent much of his time either on the turf or struggling to find the open man on Sunday. As if the elements weren't enough for the 49ers signal-caller to deal with, he had his former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio on the opposing side, dialing up plays that proved to be a headache for Kaepernick and coach Chip Kelly's 49er offense.

With 23 run plays to 10 passing plays for San Francisco in the first half, we would get a steady diet of Carlos Hyde who tallied 92 rushing yards on the afternoon and helped the 49ers dominate in the time of possession department in the first half as they held the ball for 20 of the games first 30 minutes. Somewhat of a surprise considering San Francisco entered the game ranked last in the league in time of possession. Sadly, they would manage to score only six points in all that time as a pair of Phil Dawson field goals was all San Francisco had to show for despite the time advantage. With Chicago pinned back in their own end zone on fourth down, 49ers backup running back Shaun Draughn would get a hand on a Pat O'Donnell punt attempt which helped put the Niners in position to kick their first field goal. Draughn would come up big yet again on special-teams as he stripped Bears return man Deonte Thompson of the ball on the ensuing kick, thus setting up another 49er field goal to make it a 6-0 San Francisco lead.

With just under two minutes to go before halftime and Bears quarterback Matt Barkley still without a completion, the former USC Trojan would begin completing pass after pass as he stringed together four completions on the ensuing drive. Following a controversial pass interference call in the end zone which put the Bears in business at the 1-yard line, Barkley handed the ball off to his rookie running back Jordan Howard who did the rest by punching it in for the go-ahead touchdown. The go-ahead score would be the start of 26 unanswered-points scored by Chicago and the first of three rushing touchdowns on the afternoon by Howard. Adding to his busy afternoon, Howard finished with 117 yards rushing, becoming the ninth back to eclipse the 100-yard mark against the 49ers defense this year. Putting that dismal number into perspective, no other team has allowed more than four 100-yard rushers this season. Sadly, that wouldn't be the most woeful stat of the day for San Francisco as that dubious honor would belong to Colin Kaepernick who was replaced by Blaine Gabbert with 12:55 remaining in the fourth quarter after throwing for only 4 yards on 1-of-5 pass attempts.

Making matters worse for Kaepernick who has had somewhat of a roller coaster campaign in 2016, he would watch Gabbert log more passing yards on his first play of action (an 18-yard completion to Jeremy Kerley) than Kaepernick had in the entire three quarters he spent on the field. Gabbert would finish with 35 yards passing on 4 of 10 attempts before being taken down in his own end zone for a safety in the final minutes of San Francisco's 26-6 loss. After factoring in the six total sacks that the 49ers quarterbacks would suffer, San Francisco combined for a total of 6 net passing yards, the second lowest mark in franchise history. It would also be the fewest yards allowed by a Bears team since the 1985 Monsters of Midway Chicago Bears team that won the franchise's one and only Super Bowl. As for their offense, the 26-points scored by Chicago would be a season-high in what would end up being the first career win for Matt Barkley who finished the game with 192 yards passing on 11-of-18 attempts. The 49ers will now at least have a top-4 pick in next year's NFL Draft as their franchise-worst losing-skid has now reached 11 games. Meanwhile, Chicago improves to 3-9 on the year.

Week 14 Preview - With the 49ers returning home to face the 3-9 New York Jets who are coming off a 41-10 blowout loss at home to the Colts on Monday Night Football, San Francisco will find themselves in rare territory as odds makers have them favored by 3 points, something we've seen very little of this season. Currently suffering a four-game losing streak of their own, the Jets have been one of the most disappointing teams of the season and are likely to press the reset button at seasons end with speculation regarding the potential firing of head coach Todd Bowles. Like Chip Kelly, Bowles has had a quarterback carousel of his own to deal with with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith and now Bryce Petty who will make his second career start on Sunday. Petty, drafted last year out of Baylor, started in a Week 10 loss to the Rams in which he threw for 163 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. With Jets fans hoping they've got their quarterback for the future, a game against the lowly 49ers defense might not be a very good gauge to figure out if Petty is in fact the solution to their problem. As for their defense, New York's strong D-line might cause problems for San Francisco's run game, forcing them to rely through the air which isn't very promising considering their most recent performance. Thankfully, there won't be any snow or subzero temperatures to worry about in this one.

Noteworthy: 49ers Pro Bowl offensive tackle Joe Staley will miss his first game of the season on Sunday with a hamstring injury, snapping a streak of 92 consecutive games started. 


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