The Bears then took a 38-35 lead on Cairo Santos’ 29-yard field goal with 5:22 left in the fourth quarter. But the 49ers regained a 42-38 advantage on Purdy’s 38-yard TD pass to Jauan Jennings with 2:15 to play.
The Bears began their subsequent possession at their own 35, and just like he’s done all season, Williams operated the two-minute drill with precision. He sustained the drive with a 4-yard scramble on third-and-4, a 14-yard pass to Burden on third-and-10 and a 13-yard completion to Loveland on fourth-and-5 to the 13 with :26 to play.
On second-and-10 from the 13. Williams threw over the middle to Loveland, who pitched the ball to Swift heading toward the right sideline. But the 49ers tackled Swift at the 2. With the Bears out of timeouts, Williams spiked the ball to kill the clock with :04 remaining.
Then on the game’s final play, the Bears apparently weren’t lined up properly, according to Johnson and Williams.
“We didn’t quite get aligned in the formation we wanted to,” Johnson said. “It’s on me. I didn’t get [Williams] the call fast enough, and so he’s trying to piecemeal it together.”
“We were slightly lined up wrong, and I didn’t have enough time to be able to fix it, and so we just had to try to make something out of nothing in that situation,” Williams said. “But with all of that going on—time running down, us misaligned—we had a shot, and I’ve just got to give my guys a shot in that situation. I ended up dirting the ball; didn’t get my legs into it and just put the ball in the end zone in that moment. If it’s a pick or an incomplete at that point … but can’t dirt the ball.”
The Bears rallied after trailing 28-21 at halftime. In the first half, the 49ers held decisive advantages in first downs (22-8), total yards (330-154) and plays (47-19).
“The first half certainly didn’t go the way we wanted it to as a team,” Johnson said. “They controlled the ball. They did a good job building a lead there. We couldn’t stay on the field on offense.
“In the second half, I did feel we picked up our game as a team and we closed that gap, and we made it to where we could potentially win that thing there at the end. I was proud of the guys for that, but it just wasn’t enough. And when you go on the road against a good team like that, you’ve got to be on top of your mess the entire time, and we just weren’t.”
Receiver DJ Moore and right tackle Darnell Wright both played Sunday night despite being listed as questionable on the injury report due to being sick. Wright flew to San Francisco Sunday after not traveling with the team Saturday.
Receiver Olamide Zaccheaus and defensive back Nick McCloud did not play due to illness. Receiver Rome Odunze missed his fourth straight game with a foot injury. Other inactives were quarterback Case Keenum, offensive linemen Luke Newman, linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II and cornerback Dallis Flowers.
Niners tight end George Kittle sat out the game with an ankle injury. This season, he has 52 receptions for 599 yards and seven touchdowns.
