The Chicago Bears faced off with the San Francisco 49ers on the road, and although they came up short, they didn’t go down without a fight. This 42-38 loss to the 49ers consisted of exhilarating, inspired football from both offenses during Sunday Night Football as they went toe to toe in a shootout. The Bears proved that they can hang with any team.

Let’s get into Week 17’s superlative awards.

Rookie Masterclass

The Bears’ top two draft picks TE Colston Loveland and WR Luther Burden III showed out on Sunday night. They both played an instrumental role in getting this...

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

BEARSSSSSS

**Ben Johnson: Bears are ‘playing to win,’ focused on clinching No. 2 seed against Lions in regular-season finale – 670 The Score **Bears head coach Ben Johnson made it clear that his team won’t hold back in any way against the Lions on Sunday in their regular-season finale.

**Ben Johnson says Bears are ‘playing to win’ against his former team – Sports Illustrated Chicago Bears **Bears coach defends his defense after San Francisco offense scored at will to end Chicago’s hopes for the top seed.

**[Source: Bears rookie WR Luther Burden III has quad injury...

The Bears have already clinched the NFC North, and they’ve secured home-field advantage in at least the first round of the upcoming playoffs. That said, it was still unfortunate that their dreams of securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC came to an end with their 42-38 loss to the 49ers.

You could probably infer from just looking at the score that it was an offensive shootout, and it was exactly that. Both passing attacks dominated all evening, and both ground games complemented those aerial assaults properly. In the end, though, the Bears came just one play short of...

That game didn’t go as hoped, but I, along with many others, came away feeling pretty good about the Chicago Bears. They fell a play short against the San Francisco 49ers, but rookies Colston Loveland (21 years old) and Luther Burden III (22) combined for 14 catches, 233 yards, and two touchdowns. Caleb Williams (24) had 348 total yards. Darnell Wright (24) flew in on Sunday morning and played one of his best games this season. Austin Booker (23) had Chicago’s only sack.

And they’re led by 39-year-old Ben Johnson.

The Bears are 11-5 and the NFC North Champs in...

You can’t win them all, but the Chicago Bears certainly gave the San Francisco 49ers a scare on Sunday night in Santa Clara, California.

In one of the toughest games on their 2025 schedule, the Bears came out with tons of firepower but ultimately fell just two yards (and a few seconds) short in a Sunday Night Football classic. Unfortunately for the Bears, their defense wasn’t up to snuff or it might have been a different outcome.

But one can’t fault Caleb Williams and the offense, who put together one of their best outings of the season and scored 38...

In one of the most entertaining games of the year, the Chicago Bears fell short in the final seconds to lose to the San Francisco 49ers 38-42. Here are my notes from the wild shootout.

Offense:

• The run game failed to make an impact early, which was both surprising and concerning. This turned out to be an unfortunate aspect of the game outside of a handful of runs. Wish they committed to the run more, but with Caleb playing so well and SF scoring at will, I get it.
• Speaking of Caleb, he was feasting. Despite being...

Luther Burden III has emerged as a dynamic player for the Chicago Bears during his rookie season, which is why many were more concerned with his health at the end of the game than the resulting loss.

Earlier this morning, Adam Schefter spread good cheer indicating that Burden “suffered a quad injury that is not thought to be serious.”

Burden was dynamite in the Bears’ 42-38 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, racking up 138 yards and 1 TD on 8 receptions, bringing his season long total to 44 catches for 617 yards and 2 TDs. Even the oft-persnickety Cris...

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...

Although it might be hard to believe, the 2025 NFL regular season is one game from being over. For both conferences, there have been plenty of close battles for playoff seeding. In the NFC, multiple teams came into Week 17 with a shot at the NFC’s top seed, including both the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers. Both teams have exceeded preseason expectations, and, believe it or not, both rosters share many of the same strengths and weaknesses. That’s what made Sunday night’s game such an intriguing matchup. With both teams having clinched playoff spots in Week 16, and the...

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

BEARSSSSSS

**Bears fall just short in tight 42-38 battle with 49ers – Windy City Gridiron **The Bears fall to 11-5 with their Sunday night loss.

**Kyle Shanahan Doesn’t Hold Back on Caleb Williams’ Arm Talent – Sports Illustrated Chicago Bears **As the Chicago Bears and quarterback Caleb Williams prepare to face the San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan raved about the former USC Trojans star and his ability to play the position at a high level.

**Simone Biles serves as credentialed photographer at Bears-49ers – ESPN **The 11-time Olympic medalist appeared as a credentialed...

When the Chicago Bears traveled to Motown for their Week 2 matchup against the Detroit Lions, the Lions won big, 52-21. The Lions and their fans were fired up for that game, and it had a playoff-like atmosphere, because they wanted to make a statement and stick it to Ben Johnson for leaving to become the Bears’ head coach.

Hindsight tells us that the Week 2 win for Lions’ fans was like their Super Bowl, because earlier this week, their team was eliminated from the playoffs. So they can raise the “Beat Ben Johnson in his first game back” banner...

The NFL has announced the Week 18 schedule, and as they do each year, they strategically space the games out to create as much drama as possible.

With the Chicago Bears losing to the San Francisco 49ers, the number one seed is off the table, but the Bears can still lock up the two seed with a win over the Detroit Lions at 3:25 p.m. CT on Sunday.

The current three seed, the Philadelphia Eagles, play at the same time as the Bears, and a Bears loss plus a Philly win would give the Eagles the three seed.

*Here’s the...