Windy City Gridiron
It was bound to happen eventually. The Chicago Bears fell two yards short in a comeback attempt, and they lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 42 to 38. It was an exciting back-and-forth game, but the final pass fell incomplete as time expired.
“We didn’t quite get aligned in the formation we wanted to. It’s on me,” head coach Ben Johnson said in his postgame press conference. “I didn’t give him (Caleb Williams) the call fast enough, and so he’s trying to piecemeal it together. I gotta do a better job on that.”
Williams met the media after Johnson, and he had a similar response when asked to explain the final play.
“We ended up getting lined up with not much time [on the play clock], and we were slightly lined up wrong and so didn’t have enough time to be able to fix it,” Williams said. “Having a motion and things like that, and so, you know, we just had to try and make something out of nothing in that situation.”
“Then, like I said, we had a shot, you know, with all of that going on, time running down, us misaligning, things like that. We had a shot, and I just got to give my guys a shot in that situation. I haven’t obviously gone back and watched it yet, but I think I’d end up dirting the ball. Didn’t get my legs into it and just [should have] put the ball in the end zone in that moment. If it’s a pick or incomplete that point, then you know… but can’t dirt the ball.”
Both offenses were clicking most of the night, with the 49ers outgaining the Bears 496 yards to 440. San Fran also had more first downs (32 to 26), a time-of-possession edge (33:33 to 26:27), and better third-down conversions (70% to 50%). The Bears did go 2 for 2 on fourth down tries while the ‘Niners were 1 for 1.
Chicago was penalized more, 7-39 to 5-55, but they didn’t turn the ball over, and for a second consecutive game, they didn’t allow any sacks. The 49ers’ defense was only credited with 3 quarterback hits. However, Chicago’s defense only had 1 QB hit on Brock Purdy, who had 3 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing.
Let’s look at the Bears’ playing time breakdowns and a few individual stats from the game.
Caleb Williams had his first 300-yard passing day of the season, and it was the two rookies (Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland) who were the biggest reasons why. With 3,730 passing yards, he’s now within striking distance of the Bears’ single-season passing mark of 3,838 and the elusive 4,000-yard season.
Burden set career highs in receptions and yards.
D’Andre Swift has now gone over 1,000 yards, and he’s just 2 yards away from tying his career high (1,049).
T.J. Edwards had 9 tackles and a 34-yard pick 6.
Tremaine Edmunds also had 9 tackles.
Austin Booker had 3 tackles,...
