Why Gennaro picked the Bears: This is a showdown fitting of a prime-time spotlight, with the Bears fresh off a thrilling rivalry victory and the 49ers scoring points like they’re going out of style. It’s a spectacular coaching matchup, too. All four play-callers — Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen on the Chicago side, Kyle Shanahan and Robert Saleh for San Francisco — have earned their paychecks in 2025, making the most of the respective cards they’ve been dealt. It’ll be fascinating to see how they attack each other; a real clash of strategic titans. And yet, I’m drawn to one simple question: Can the 49ers stop the run? The answer, at least this season, is … Sometimes! It varies from week to week, as best evidenced by the last two Sundays of October, when San Francisco went from keeping Bijan Robinson under 3 yards per carry to allowing the run-challenged Texans to eclipse 150 rushing yards. Over the last three games, the Niners were gashed on the ground by the Browns and the Titans before they held Colts star Jonathan Taylor to his lowest yards-per-carry figure of the season (2.9). This inconsistency’s not surprising, considering San Francisco has played most of the season without cornerstone defenders Fred Warner and Nick Bosa, but it’s still discomforting. If the defense can get pounded on any given Sunday, well, that’s a terrifying thought for this particular Sunday night. Chicago’s ground game has been absolutely cooking since the early bye all the way back in Week 5. Over the last 11 games, the Bears have averaged 170.2 rushing yards per outing, with D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai forming a two-headed Monster of the Midway. So, can the 49ers stop this run? My forecast says no.
