The San Francisco 49ers outlasted the Chicago Bears 42-38 on Sunday night in a heart-stopping shootout that fittingly came down to the final play. Another dominant offensive performance by the 49ers put them in position to claim the NFC’s No. 1 seed and the West title by beating the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium.
Niners quarterback Brock Purdy accounted for five touchdowns, including the game-winner — a 38-yard pass to receiver Jauan Jennings with 2:15 remaining.
The Bears, who have won six games this season in which they trailed with two minutes or less remaining, drove 63 yards in 15 plays to reach the 49ers’ 2-yard line with four seconds left, but quarterback Caleb Williams’ pass for receiver Jahdae Walker in the end zone fell short.
San Francisco outgained Chicago 496 yards to 440. Purdy passed for 303 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 28 yards and two scores. Niners running back Christian McCaffrey finished with 181 yards from scrimmage and a rushing touchdown.
For the Bears, Williams threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns, receiver Luther Burden had eight catches for 138 yards and a TD, and running back D’Andre Swift rushed for two scores.
Purdy nearly perfect
Purdy made his only mistake on his first pass — a throw into tight coverage that was tipped, picked off and returned for a touchdown by Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards. Then, he was just about perfect, buying time in the pocket to find open receivers and running for those two touchdowns.
Purdy completed 24 of 33 for 303 yards and those three touchdown passes. On the second one, a 6-yard toss to Kyle Juszczyk that put the 49ers up 35-28, Purdy rolled left and juked two pass rushers before he was able to throw it to a waiting Juszczyk.
On the game-winner, he hit Jennings over the middle, and the wideout did the rest, going 17 yards up the right side of the field for the touchdown.
Purdy is showing no ill effects from his turf toe injury and has 13 touchdowns in the three games since the Week 14 bye. Now, if he could only play safety for the 49ers’ defense. — Vic Tafur, 49ers beat writer
Big night for McCaffrey
McCaffrey went over 100 scrimmage yards for the 11th time this season. In fact, he surpassed the 100-yard mark midway through the second quarter.
He finished with 181 yards – 140 on the ground and another 41 receiving. While the output puts him in the hunt with Bijan Robinson and Jonathan Taylor for most yards from scrimmage this season, he’s unlikely to become the first player in NFL history with two seasons with 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards.
He heads into the Week 18 finale with 1,179 rushing yards and 890 receiving yards. — Matt Barrows, 49ers beat writer
Williams shows grit in playoff atmosphere
Williams showed once again that, if needed, he can play in a shootout. He had pressure every drive to find the end zone to keep up with Purdy and the 49ers, and he did.
He made big-time throws to receivers Burden and Walker and tight end Colston Loveland on critical downs. He had two touchdowns that were at least 35 yards. Yes, he did it against one of the league’s least effective pass rushes, but being in the pocket hasn’t necessarily been a good thing for Williams this season, and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh figured to have some wrinkles for Williams. The QB answered the bell enough throughout the game in a hostile, road environment.
Williams finished with a season-high 330 yards with two touchdown passes and no interceptions, good for a passer rating of 100.3. While the offense struggled for 3 1/2 quarters against the Packers, Williams rebounded — and battled back after going three-and-out on the first two drives Sunday night. He also did it without receivers Rome Odunze and Olamide Zaccheaus.
It’s a good reminder of Williams’ abilities in big moments with the postseason two weeks away. — Kevin Fishbain, Bears beat writer
Ready for prime-time players
They don’t make them much more entertaining than this one. Prime time. Two 11-win teams. Heavy implications for the NFC playoff picture. And an absolute fireworks show at the site of the upcoming Super Bowl LX.
The Bears and 49ers proved Sunday night that they have the offensive horsepower to go that deep in the postseason, engaging in a duel at Levi’s Stadium that featured 936 total yards, 58 first downs and 10 offensive touchdowns.
The game began with a defensive burst – that 34-yard pick six by Edwards on the first play from scrimmage. But from there, the offenses played a game of “Can you top this?” all the way up until Jennings scored the winning touchdown — and beyond.
This score was tied at 7, at 14, at 21, 28 and 35, too.
The 49ers rolled up 496 total yards and almost lost. For the Bears, who averaged 6.9 yards per play, Williams had TD tosses of 35 and 36 yards to Burden and Loveland, respectively.
The game ended, naturally, with a game-deciding play from the 49ers’ 2-yard line, an extended-play incompletion from Williams that skipped 2 yards short of Walker. Still, both teams showed potential to make noise in the playoffs. — Dan Wiederer, Bears beat writer
Pass rush lacking again
This should come as no surprise, considering where the 49ers ranked (dead last) in sacks entering Sunday’s game, but the defense had zero against Williams, the fifth time this season they’ve had a goose egg in that category. In fact, the 49ers have had the same number of multiple-sack games in 2025 as zero-sack games, and they’re on their way to setting a franchise-record low in a non-strike-shortened season.
The pass-rush highlight of the evening: a couple of quarterback hurries, one from defensive tackle Jordan Elliott in the first quarter and another from Keion White – who was lined up at defensive tackle – on a third-down play at the end of the first half. — Barrows
Bears pick on 49ers’ safeties
After the Bears’ offense got off to a slow start, with two three-and-outs, they must have realized they could attack the 49ers’ safeties in the pass and run game.
Burden beat safety Ji’Ayir Brown for a 35-yard touchdown in the first quarter to tie the score at 14, and then Williams started looking for Loveland, who had six catches for 94 yards and a touchdown.
Safeties Brown and Malik Mustapha were also a little sloppy against the run, and there were a lot of missed tackles on Swift’s 22-yard score in the fourth quarter that tied the score at 38. — Tafur
