Week 17 - With things getting down to the nitty-gritty as teams approach the homestretch of the NFL's regular season, two teams vying for the NFC's top seed would faceoff in a heavyweight matchup on Sunday Night Football between the (11-4) San Francisco 49ers and (11-4) Chicago Bears. While both teams have ascended their way near the top of the league's power rankings in surprising fashion for very different reasons, few teams in the NFL have looked as good on offense this year as Kyle Shanahan's 49ers and Ben Johnson's Bears. While San Francisco has continued to defy all odds despite suffering a plethora of injuries to some of the league's best players, the Bears on the other hand have come out of nowhere after bouncing back from a last place finish just a season ago. And with Sunday night's game expected to be knock-down, drag-out war, nothing would quite prepare us for the back-and-forth melee that would actually ensue.
After winning the coin-toss and electing to defer, the Chicago Bears would take over on defense and would make their presence felt in a hurry. Having gone the entire month of December without punting the ball away entering Sunday's game, the 49ers would again begin their night on that streak but not in the way they had envisioned. San Francisco would suffer a double-whammy on the opening-play that resulted in a pick-six interception as well as an injury suffered by left-tackle Trent Williams who just days earlier was named to his 12th career Pro Bowl. Following a tipped-pass from 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy intended for Jauan Jennings, Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards came up with the interception and ran it back as Williams injured his hamstring on the play and was forced to watch all of the game from the sideline. While the play left the 49ers and their fans shocked, it would serve as a wakeup call if anything as the early turnover would prove to be nothing but a minor speedbump. Purdy and company would waste little time before answering with a score of their own, connecting on a deep pass to receiver Demarcus Robinson for 25-yards before finding backup tight-end Jake Tonges in the end zone for the 1-yard score. Filling in for the injured George Kittle who would sit out while nursing a sprained ankle, Tonges would answer the call with a team-high 7 receptions on the night against his former team.
After forcing a three-and-out punt on Chicago's first offensive drive, the 49ers would also be forced to punt, something they hadn't done in a franchise-record 23 consecutive drives. Following another Chicago three-and-out, the 49ers were right back to their old selves with another touchdown-scoring drive, this time requiring only three plays. Setup by a 41-yard rush from running back Christian McCaffrey, the longest run of the season by a 49er, Purdy scrambled into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown. Following his rushing touchdown, Purdy would become the first QB in NFL history to rush for a TD, pass for a TD and throw an interception for a TD in the first quarter of a game. Any hopes of San Francisco taking an early lead and riding it to the finish line would go right out the window as Chicago answered with a quick touchdown drive of their own following a pair of deep passes, including one into the end zone from 35-yards out to rookie receiver Luther Burden III for the equalizer. With already a wild first quarter in the books, things would only intensify as touchdowns became commonplace. 49ers receiver Ricky Pearsall who was a game-time decision with a knee injury, hauled in a team-high 85-yards on the night, including a 30-yarder that helped setup McCaffrey for a 5-yard score.
Needing half the number of plays to score a touchdown of their own, the Bears would march 65-yards on just three plays before a free-play touchdown pass from Bears QB Caleb Williams to rookie tight-end Colston Loveland. Called for a defensive offsides penalty on the play, it would mark the second consecutive week in which the 49ers were snakebitten by a free-play touchdown. While San Francisco would lack much of the efficiency Chicago had on most of their first half drives, they would manage much greater success as Shanahan's offense embarked on an 18-play drive that ate up nearly 9-minutes of time of possession before Purdy capped things off with his second rushing touchdown of the night and his third of the season to give the Niners a 28-21 halftime lead. While the 49ers would dominate the first half on offense with 330 total yards and 47 plays to just 19 plays for Chicago, only one score would separate both teams on the scoreboard. With a combined 49-points scored in the first two quarters, it would be hard for these two teams to give us another half of football as entertaining as the first one, but they would somehow manage to do just that.
Opening the second half with the ball, Chicago would tie things at 28 with another touchdown-scoring drive capped off by running back D'Andre Swift who scored from 2-yards out. Orchestrating another drive that would end with a visit to the end zone would be Purdy who's 25-yard strike on the first play of the possession to receiver Kendrick Bourne would help setup an eventual touchdown pass to fullback Kyle Juszczyk as the 49ers' shifty quarterback danced around a pair of Chicago defenders before finding his target. With the Bears trailing 35-28 entering the fourth quarter, they would kick things off with a game-tying touchdown on the first play of the quarter when Swift scored his second touchdown of the night after a 22-yard scamper. With the game tied at 35-35, the tit for tat dog fight would make the record books as the first game in NFL regular season history to be tied at 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35, a feat that had only happened one other time but during the playoffs. After a rare punt for the 49ers on their first possession of the final quarter, the Bears would take their first lead since the opening-drive with a 73-yard drive that ended with a 29-yard field goal from kicker Cairo Santos and Chicago ahead, 38-35.
Having found themselves trailing in the second half of a game for the first time in nearly two months, Purdy would remain calm, cool and collected before marching his offense 70-yards before hitting Jauan Jennings across the field for a 38-yard touchdown to give his receiver five straight games with a score and seven TDs in his last eight matches as San Francisco took a 42-38 lead. But with 2:15 remaining in the fourth quarter for Chicago, things were beginning to align much like they have been all season long for second-year QB Caleb Williams who had made a habit out of fourth quarter comebacks this season. He nearly had another one up his sleeve in this one before San Francisco's makeshift defense pulled a rabbit from their hat. With their backs against the wall, Robert Saleh's defense answered the call when they needed it most. Williams and company would not go down without a fight and certainly not before causing a bit of drama as the Bears reached the 2-yard line before two final incompletions, including one of the final play of the game that left Williams flushed from the pocket and throwing on the run and off his back foot to an empty spot in the end zone as the game came to an end with the 49ers prevailing.
In what will be an instant classic for years to come with both teams combining for 936 total yards, Brock Purdy became the first QB in 49ers franchise history with back-to-back 5 touchdown games after his performance on Sunday night included 2 rushing touchdowns, 3 passing touchdowns and 303 passing yards. Caleb Williams also played exceptionally well to the tune of 330 passing yards and 2 passing touchdowns. Chicago's Luther Burden III led all receivers with 8 receptions and 138 receiving yards, while San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey led all rushers with 140 yards to go along with 41 yards receiving and a rushing touchdown. McCaffrey also had 100 rushing yards in the first half for the first time in his career, and joined Hall of Famer LaDanian Tomlinson as the only players in NFL history to have 3 seasons with 2,000+ scrimmage yards and 15+ TD.
Week 18 Preview: Staying in the bay area for the regular season-finale, the (12-4) San Francisco 49ers will play host to the archrival (13-3) Seattle Seahawks in a winner-take-all battle for the NFC Western Division title and the NFC's No. 1 seed. As if these two teams needed any more ammunition to spice up their rivalry, the temperature will be increased to the nth degree as the stakes couldn't be any higher for a regular season match. Despite having already defeated the Seahawks in Seattle this season back in Week 1 and being at home, the 49ers opened up as 1.5-point underdogs according to oddsmakers. With both teams entering the heavyweight bout having won their last six games, we may be in store for yet another slugfest as each team has been on a roll and doesn't seem to like each other one bit. The one glaring difference over the last few games between these two clubs has been the quarterback play. While the 49ers have rode off the success of their quarterback Brock Purdy the last few games, Seattle has managed to win despite recent struggles from QB Sam Darnold. Robert Saleh's squad will look to continue to make things miserable for Seattle's signal-caller on Saturday night, but the last two weeks haven't exactly gone that way as opposing quarterbacks have had a field day against San Francisco's defense for the greater part of the last two weeks now.
However, no offense in football is as hot as San Francisco's right now as Kyle Shanahan's team has now scored in 27 consecutive quarters entering the regular season-finale. Saturday's meeting is sure to be the latest chapter in what's been a rivalry defined by eventful endings including the stop at the goal-line by San Francisco's Dre Greenlaw in the 2020 regular season finale that helped secure home-field advantage and the No. 1 seed for the 49ers during the Super Bowl run.
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