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Did this feel like a playoff game? Really, Sunday night felt like all of the playoff games.
Was the end of the 49ers’ harrowing, hallucinogenic 42-38 victory over the Chicago Bears at Levi’s Stadium meaningful? Yes, definitely, yes — if you’re measuring by the emotion in the 49ers’ voices and the pride and relief that radiated from all parts of the organization after it was over.
And, of course, it was about the potential reward if the 49ers complete this most implausible dream regular season by beating the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday back at Levi’s in a game that will decide the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs.
You bet this felt like a playoff game. It sounded like a playoff game. The stadium shook like a playoff game. And the 49ers’ victory set up the possibility that they can get to and win Super Bowl 60 in February — at Levi’s, if you haven’t heard — without ever leaving home.
Or maybe this is simply the high point of this season; maybe the 49ers will lose to the Seahawks, fall into the wild-card round, travel to Philadelphia, or draw a rematch with the Bears in Chicago, and maybe this journey will end there.
But the fact that the 49ers have gotten to this point — after losing Nick Bosa and Fred Warner early in the season and winning this game without George Kittle and mostly without Trent Williams — is proof enough that we don’t know if there are limits to this season.
The implausibility is an elemental part of the story now. It’s the fuel for it.
And when Kyle Shanahan told his players after the game that they’d earned every bit of this by fighting through everything … yeah, they felt that in their bones.
“Absolutely, bro — I feel like everybody counted us out,” safety Ji’Ayir Brown said. “I feel like there was doubt in everybody’s minds.
Brock Purdy threw three touchdowns against the Bears, marking his third straight game with at least three passing touchdowns. | Source: Amber Pietz/The Standard
“We hear all the media talk about who we don’t got. But a lot of guys forget who we do have. I believe we have the guys to go out and win it.”
They almost blew it, by the way. Of course, the 49ers’ wobbly defense almost blew it. The 49ers are 12-4, on a six-game winning streak, and yet everybody in the stadium knew there was a chance they wouldn’t be able to stop Caleb Williams at the end.
Friday, Dec. 19
Tuesday, Dec. 16
Friday, Dec. 12
The 49ers are not a perfect team. They have vulnerabilities. They are young. They make mistakes.
Even when Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey were leading them through another powerhouse offensive performance — racking up a season-high 496 yards (while Williams and the Bears put up 440) — you knew the 49ers could lose this game.
But after Shanahan chose to punt the ball away inside Bears territory with the score tied 35-35 early in the fourth quarter, the 49ers’ defense held the Bears to a field goal.
“I thought I lost the game when I punted there on fourth-and-7,” Shanahan said.
Purdy evaded Bears defenders throughout the team’s 42-38 win. | Source: Amber Pietz/The Standard
The idea was to pin the Bears back and get good field position — but the Bears immediately picked up 25 yards on their first play and moved right down the field. So yes, Shanahan immediately regretted the decision.
“It was right on the fringe,” Shanahan said. “It was actually in our field-goal range earlier in the day, [but] the wind kind of changed. So that was a tough one for me. Don’t want to panic and have to go for it, but it was one that if I would’ve had more time to think about probably would’ve done it.”
Then, after the 49ers raced down field for the go-ahead score with 2:15 left, the 49ers’ defense let Williams get to the 2-yard line with four seconds left. But they got some pressure from Bryce Huff and Yetur Gross-Matos and forced the last incompletion.
“We were going to go out on our swords, man,” Brown said. “Play man coverage and that’s how we’re going to go out. Play your best ball. It’s time.”
Will this work against the Seahawks? We shall see. The 49ers beat the Seahawks in Seattle in Week 1 — so long ago that Jake Moody was the 49ers’ kicker — and the 49ers’ offense right now can match up against anybody.
If the 49ers have a lead, it will almost certainly come down to a last defensive stand against the Seahawks on Saturday. And the week after that. And if the 49ers keep going, the weeks after that too.
Maybe all the way to February.
The NFL truism is that shaky defenses eventually can’t keep making last stands. Something will crumble, eventually, in the playoffs.
Christian McCaffrey rushed for a season-high 140 yards against the Bears. | Source: Amber Pietz/The Standard
But on Sunday, the 49ers had every right to bask in the moment and dare everyone to keep doubting them. They don’t have all of their stars, they can get wobbly, yet they’re still here, hosting a game for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
“This is the game that we want,” Shanahan said. “We love that it’s here. We love an opportunity to never leave here again this year. And we have that opportunity Saturday night.”
It probably will be a dramatic game. And win or lose, the 49ers will play at least one more game in the playoffs, which surely will be dramatic too.
That’s why Sunday’s finish felt so defining for this team.
“It started with offense and then defense is the finisher,” cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said. “Defense wins championships. So if we keep playing this kind of football, we should be there for the Super Bowl and able to win that too.”
Maybe they can. Because that didn’t feel like just a single 49ers victory this season. It felt like all of them all at once. And once something like this gets real momentum, well, who’s going to stop it?
