Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers survived their Sunday night tilt against the Chicago Bears by a score of 42-38 in an offensive slugfest that came down to the Bears’ offense simply running out of time.
The game started with Brock Purdy and the 49ers’ offense spotting Chicago the first seven points, and from there it came down to who could make the big defensive stop at the right time. That turned out to be San Francisco, holding Chicago to a fourth-quarter field goal.
But, like last Monday night against the Colts, the 49ers’ defense looked very beatable, and it took a superhuman performance by the offense to keep San Francisco’s hopes for the No. 1 seed alive. And because of that performance, all three stars from Sunday night again belong to the offense:
Third star: TE Jake Tonges
In a development that basically anybody could have predicted at the start of the season, you can’t tell the story of the 2025 49ers without mentioning Jake Tonges.
It came out early on Sunday morning that the 49ers would be without George Kittle, putting Tonges in the starting lineup, and he did not miss his opportunity. He wasted little time making an impact, being Purdy’s first completion to a player in red, an 18-yard catch on third-and-7 to extend the 49ers’ second drive.
His second catch would go for eight yards, but two plays later, he’d end that second drive with his first touchdown since Week 8, to tie the game early on at seven.
When it was all said and done, Tonges led the 49ers in targets with nine and receptions with seven, totalling 60 yards and setting a new career-high. While he did haul in the touchdown, his biggest catch of the game went for only seven yards, but the timing was crucial.
With the 49ers trailing by three points and nearing the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter, the offense faced a third-and-6 at their own 29-yard line. Tonges was able to get open in the flat but caught the ball short of the first down marker. A shifty move got him just enough space from Bears’ linebacker T.J. Edwards to barely get the ball over the line to extend what would be the 49ers’ final drive.
Five plays later, the 49ers scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
It’s been 16 weeks since Tonges has been seen on this list, but his performance in relief of Kittle, who frequents here, marks his triumphant return to our three stars.
Second star: RB Christian McCaffrey
After 14 weeks of high volume, low output rushing attempts, it’s finally felt like Christian McCaffrey has returned to form on the ground in the last two games.
After averaging 3.6 yards per attempt over his first 14 games of the season, McCaffrey’s production has spiked to 5.84 over his last two games. Sunday night felt like a promising continuation to his big Monday night game, torching the Bears’ defense to the tune of 140...
