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The Chicago Bears lost another heartbreaker to the San Francisco 49ers, which marked Chicago’s third straight loss by 10-plus points.
In a twist of fate, it wasn’t the offense that faltered. It was the Bears defense that struggled mightily against a 49ers offense that, while it had weapons, had failed to impress during their four-game losing streak.
Things were about as brutal as you can imagine as the Bears gave up 467 total yards, the most since 2015, and they allowed the 49ers to run all over them, surrendering 145 rushing yards, including 137 by Elijah Mitchell and two rushing touchdowns by Jimmy Garoppolo.
For the third straight game, Chicago has given up 145-plus yards on the ground — 154 yards vs. Packers, 182 yards vs. Bucs and 145 yards vs. 49ers. Not the sign of a great defense, and it’s been brutal.
Oh, but it gets worse.
Garoppolo, who had struggled mightily the week before against the Colts, has an impressive outing completing 61 percent of his passes for 322 yards and ran for two touchdowns. But the most important stat were the zero sacks and zero quarterback hits Chicago generated, and it cost them.
While the Bears managed to hold the 49ers to 9 points in the first half, every time the 49ers touched the ball — with the exception of their kneel down — in the second half, they scored.
- 7 plays, 75 yards, TD
- 6 plays, 52 yards, TD
- 5 plays, 75 yards, TD
- 7 plays, 49 yards, FG
But the play that changed the game came early in the third quarter when the Bears, leading 13-9, had the 49ers pinned deep in their own territory on third-and-19. Instead of getting a stop, a check down to Deebo Samuel turned into an 83-yard gain to set up a 1-yard Garoppolo touchdown run. And things just weren’t the same after that.
While Chicago was dealing with the loss of outside linebacker Khalil Mack, he wasn’t the reason for their struggles. It was everywhere — the pass rush, the run defense, the secondary. Defensive coordinator Sean Desai needs to fix things. And fast.
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