Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers love to make things interesting. They wasted little time against the Chicago Bears. Brock Purdy’s first pass attempt was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. His intended target, Jauan Jennings, ran a D- route.
Not only did the 49ers go down 7-0 on the first play, but they also lost Trent Williams to a hamstring injury as Williams was chasing down the defender on the interception—a double whammy.
The second drive looked like the offense we had gotten accustomed to watching. Jake Tonges caught an 18-yard pass. Demarcus Robinson followed a Tonges 8-yard reception with a 25-yarder of his own. Tonges was wide open in the end zone from the 1-yard line to even the score at seven.
Caleb Williams and Purdy both had a couple of early tipped passes. The next three possessions resulted in punts. That’s right, the Niners defense forced two three-and-outs to begin the game. During our preview, we said two stops in a half, a low bar to clear, would be enough. How about two to start the game?
The 49ers only needed a minute and 21 seconds to score on their ensuing drive. The bye week did wonders for Christian McCaffrey. He had a 41-yard rush to begin the drive. Brian Robinson followed that up with a 15-yarder of his own, and Purdy scrambled his way untouched into the end zone from 10 yards out.
We knew the Bears would score. We were worried about Luther Burden. He caught a first down on the second play of the drive. Then, he beat Ji’Ayir Brown for 35 yards on a deep route. Ben Johnson schemed it up, and Caleb Williams didn’t miss. That tied the score at 14.
By the end of the first quarter, the 49ers were averaging 8.1 yards per play compared to the Bears’ 6.8. The 49ers had 10 first downs on 23 plays, and were getting whatever they wanted against the Bears. But you also knew the Bears weren’t going away.
Ricky Pearsall joined the fun on the next drive. He caught a 30-yard pass and a 13-yarder on the drive. McCaffrey capped things off with a 16-yard rush before going untouched into the end zone from five yards out, giving the Niners a 21-14 lead.
The Bears took advantage of what seemed to be a miscue by the refs on the next drive. There was pre-snap contact by the defensive lineman who jumped offside. The play should’ve been blown dead, and Chicago awarded five yards. Instead, they give Caleb Williams a free play, and he throws a rope to Colston Loveland for a 36-yard touchdown. And just like that, the score was tied once more at 21.
The next drive came down to a 56-yard field goal attempt, or going for it on 4th & 3. Purdy missed Tonges on third down, but fired a strike to Pearsall on 4th & 3 for a 14-yard gain. McCaffrey eluded a pair of defenders on the next third...
