Bear Digest

Bears and 49ers Live Updates

Updating live from Soldier Field, BearDigest's Gene Chamberlain has analysis on Sunday's game between the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears and 49ers Live Updates
Bears and 49ers Live Updates

Fourth Quarter 

  • Norman picks off a deep ball Mooney tipped up into the air. 
  • Slye with a 32-yard field goal locks it up. 49ers 33, Bears 22
  • Hicks and Smith stuff Mitchell finally but it's a little late for that 2-yard loss. There's 3:14 left and 49ers are at the Bears 15, needing a field goal to put this away.
  • Bears using timeouts but it won't matter if they can't stop anyone. This will be two straight games allowing 30 or more points.
  • Big hole on Bears right side and Mitchell broke 39-yard run. The side Quinn and Alec Ogletree play. They both are weak against the run. Niners have had anything they wanted off the left side in the second half.
  • Bears punt with clock running and 4:31 left. Low, short punt by O'Donnell. J.P. Holtz made the hit on the punt return and is shaken up himself.
  • Fields got the look he wanted with a safety cheating right and threw deep for Mooney but overthrew him as he was coming open from the cornerback. Third-and-11.  Fields sacked on Ebukam on third down.
  • Herbert stuffed on first-down run left by Warner and Jones.
  • Fields leveled on an incompletion on second down Samson Ebukam with the roughing the QB penalty.
  • Herbert on zone read gains nothing.
  • Grant finally found a return he couldn't make. It sailed clear out of the end zone.
  • Fred Warner was cleared on concussion evaluation but defensive back Jimmy Ward has a quad injury and is out of the game.
  • Hasty catches a short pass and is wide open in the middle, runs to the 5. Then Garoppolo runs in on zone read from 5 yards out. 49ers 30, Bears 22
  • Mitchell breaks a 27-yard run around left end after a 19-yard completion to Sanu and 49ers are back at Bears 29. Then Mitchell gains 2 on run right. 
  • Now we see why everyone loves that speed. Fourth down, Fields is trapped on fourth-and-1, scrambles right, then left, broke three tackles, got a killing block on Fred Warner from Jason Peters and ran in for the 22-yard TD. Then Santos misses the PAT wide right. 49ers 23, Bears 22
  • A 5-yard pass to A-Rob going OB and it's fourth-and-1.
  • Herbert returns and gains 4 on a run up the middle. Third-and-6 at 27.
  • Incomplete to Goodwin, and he made the sin of all sins for receivers by sticking his hand up and letting it hit his hand. 49ers nearly picked it. 
  • Nall breaks through the middle, fumbles, grabs it and Cody Whitehair is flagged for holding so it goes for a 4-yard gain. On second down Fields hits Mooney for a gain to 49ers 31 and a first down. An 18-yard gain.
  • Khalil Herbert did run back to the sidelines out of the locker room.
  • Fields bootleg run with a great move on third-and-1 and gets OB for first down on a gain of 14 to Niners 45.
  • Goodwin fumbles a reception on second down and gets 10, recovers fumble. 
  • Fields sacked for a 1-yard loss on first down.
  • Grant's 30-yard return puts Bears at the 32. 
  • A 5-yard TD by Mitchell on scrum. 14:11 remaining. On conversion, Garoppolo hits Aiyuk and Niners go up 23-16.
  • 49ers go power I and toss gets a first down at Bears 5. 

Third Quarter 

  • Mitchell a 3-yard run up the middle. But Garoppolo finds Charlie Woerner for 8 and then Juszczyk for 11. Quarter Ends. Bears 16, 49ers 15
  • Garoppolo steps away from rush and finds Samuel for 15 to Bears 37.
  • Bears are  using their fifth running back now. No. 1 would be David Montgomery, No. 2 would be Tarik Cohen, No. 3 Damien Williams and No. 4 would be Herbert. Or at least the depth chart would say that. Herbert should be No. 2. Either way, Ryan Nall is not a running back, just a big blocker and receiver and a good special teams player.
  • The NFL's worst punt coverage unit is at it again. 49ers break a 41-yard punt for a 21-yard return to their own 48. Not just criticism. Bears were dead last covering punts.
  • Fields throws it wide of Kmet on third down and Bears must punt.
  • On second-and-15 at 33 Fields tries to scramble, is sacked by Bosa and thrown down hard after the play with no call. 
  • Looks like it's Ryan Nall. Herbert gets up and walks off kind of woozy. Slowly. 
  • Bears start at the 16 and two Herbert runs get a first down, then a Fields pass to Mooney and a Hebert run nets another first down. But then Herbert fumbles a toss and falls on it for a 4-yard loss and is injured on the play.
  • Slye misses the extra point wide right. Bears 16, 49ers 15
  • A false start and 49ers get 3 yards on first down from Mitchell, then an incompletion. On third-and-goal at the 2 Jimmy G rolls left and dives in for the  TD. Juszczyk with a good block on Roquan Smith. 
  • No one got a good shot in on Samuel, a play the Bears should have suspected since it was long down and distance. 49ers then try their pet play of a fullback dive by Kyle Juszczyk and he is stuffed for a loss but they are called for a false start.
  • Replay overturns the TD. 49ers get it at the 1-yard line. An 83-yard gain.
  • Another wide receiver screen and Samuel takes it to the house. An 84-yard game-tying TD. Could have stepped out at the 1 but TV angle is hard to judge.
  • An illegal block in the back on a wide receiver screen sets the Niners back to their 16 and then Tashaun Gipson with a pass defensed for an incompletion. Niners third-and-16.
  • Johnson peels off stuffs Mitchell on toss left on first down for no gain. 
  • 49ers at their 25 after touchback
  • Cairo Santos' third field goal of the day from 25 yards with 8:33 left in the quarter. Bears 16, 49ers 9
  • Fields spins out of a possible sack, scrambles left and is short of the first down, but a holding on Josh Norman added on gives Bears the first down. A run and short throw to Herbert leaves Bears third-and-goal at the 7.  Fred Warner gets away with a shove on Kmet in the end zone and Bears trying a field goal.
  • A 22-yard pass to the old Niners receiver Marquise Goodwin slanting across and Beras get to the 16 but Herbert loses 4 off left tackle. Then a 6-yard throw over the middle to Robinson. Third-and-8 now at the 14.
  • Niners defense apparently adjusted on the run. They took away the cutback Herbert had been using and he loses one on first down. Fields pumps, scrambles right around end out of the pocket for 15 to 49ers 35.
  • The Bears are getting decent field position. A first-down bootleg is sniffed out by Niners but still completed to James for 19 yards going to his left by Fields, who is over 100 yards passing now. 
  • Grant with a nifty move in the open field and one broken tackle on a 34-yard return to the 31.
  • In their last six quarters at Soldier Field, the 49ers have kicked eight field goals and haven't scored a TD.

Second Quarter

  • Garoppolo goes back to Samuel at the goal line and throws it wide. Slye kicks a 22-yard field goal. Bears 13, 49ers 9 Half
  • Bears call timeout. Vildor did the one thing a cornerback can't do in that situation and let the receiver get open deep. Any other completion is fine for lesser yards.
  • Deep ball to Samuel at the Bears 3. Vildor couldn't knock it down. A 50-yard completion. Then Garoppolo kills the clock with seven seconds left.
  • There has been movement of Fields, both planned and unplanned, and a wide range of passing plays from RPO to bootleg and straight dropbacks. They worked well remotely on the game plan this week. But the second-half adjustments by San Francisco will come and then we'll see how the Bears counter without Nagy involved, besides what they may have come up with in the game plan ahead of time.
  • The pass rush hasn't been consistent but the defense has been doing enough to keep Garoppolo off balance. On first down, he waits too long and Bilal Nichols gets a hand in his face to force an incompletion. On third down he hits Brandon Aiyuk slanting over the middle for a 15-yarder to the 49ers 46 with 25 seconds left in the half. The Niners are out of timeouts.
  • 49ers to start at their 25 with 1:16 left in half.
  • The 16-play drive was the longest for the Bears since they had a 16-yard drive against the Rams in the opener. This one went only 57 yards.
  • Fields threw if for a couple yards to Kmet but should have looked left because Herbert had at least 6 yards. Then he does throw in the flat to Herbert, who is smothered by three players for a loss of 6. Bears trying a 40-yard field goal by Santos.  His 37th straight. Bears 13, 49ers 6
  • It's big for the Bears to extend this drive and score a TD because they get the ball to start second half.
  • Fields 9 of 11 for 86 yards and has 48 yards on five runs.
  • A Hebert 2-yard run leaves Bears at second-and-8 from Niners 18 and Tabor has Fields wait to let clock run down to TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!
  • Alex Bars comes in as extra blocker and allows a sack plus commits a hold. 49ers decline it and take the 11-yard loss from the sack. Fields scrambles out of trouble again but 49ers' Aarden Key gets an illegal hands to the face 
  • Bears behind the sticks after a 3-yard run by Herbert. Second-and-12 at the 42. But Herbert breaks two tackles, cuts outside to the left and gains 9. Third-and-3 at 49ers 33. Two good stiff arms on one play. Then he gets 3 and it depends on the spot. They give it to him. First down at the 30.
  • After a 16-yard scramble, Whitehair is detected illegally downfield blocking on a completion to Mooney. He was well behind 3 yards.
  • Fields sprints right and finds Mooney going OB for 4 and a first down. A play they used to use a lot with Mitchell Trubisky and A-Rob. 
  • Herbert dives forward for 4 and it's third-and-3 at Bears 40.
  • Nothing develops on another play-action looking deep so Fields scrambles for 3 up the middle with a nice slide.
  • Robinson's first catch of the game on his fingertips and he rolls for the first down.
  • 49ers run defense stiffening, they stop Herbert for 2 and then Fields' play-action throw is risky because Mooney is in a pocket in the zone with three players around him. Fred Warner tips it away.
  • Grant catches a short one on the dead run but can only go 10 yards to the 21.
  • The 49ers are 3-for-3 on 50 yards-plus this year, with Slye making two of them.
  • Slye's 52-yard field goal with the wind makes it with ease. Bears 10, 49ers 6. 
  • Ryan Nall is the only other Bears RB active today. On third down, a throw over the middle to Sanu is broken up by DHC.
  • Mitchell nets 3 running off left tackle but on second down a throw over the middle gets batted down by Angelo Blackson. Third-and-7. Niners have to call timeout to avoid a delay-of-game penalty.
  • Jimmy G with a 23- yard completion on second down while flushed out of the pocket. Then a 16-yard completion to Samuel against Jaylon Johnson over the middle.
  • Damien Williams knee injury and questionable to return
  • Akiem Hicks announces his return. On first down he devours Elijah for a 1-yard loss.
  • After a 3-yard cutback run by Herbert, Fields runs the bootleg pass and has wide open spaces but instead decides to throw it and finds Jesse James for a. touchdown pass on a diving catch with 12:03 left in the quarter. Bears 10, 49ers 3
  • Herbert has an opening and bolts ahead for 6 on first down to the 18, then Kmet gets a catch on a crossing route for 6 to the 11. More variety.
  • An RPO and Herbert plows forward for 6, then a zone read and Fields runs it 9 yards around left end for first down at 23. Using the RPO better today.
  • Herbert needs 3 yards to become Bears leading rusher this season. Finished the first quarter with 28.
  • Nice variety to offensive play calls but Fields needs to give those outside routes to A-Rob more of a look. He just isn't comfortable with the top Bears receiver yet.

First Quarter

  • Herbert knifes ahead for 3 to Niners 38. Quarter Ends. Bears 3, 49ers 3
  • Play-action to Cole Kmet and 16 yards. Have to love those throws to Kmet off play-action. It's a 49er vulnerability.
  • Fields not looking outside again, sees Mooney for 11. Had A-Rob if he wanted. 
  • Pass blocking breaks down for Fields and he overthrows Kmet avoiding the sack. Then Herbert dove forward for 1. Third-and-9 at the 27. 49ers jump offsides, Arik Armstead. Daniels quickly reacted to it and it's third-and-4.
  • Grant makes a daring return from 5 yards deep and ends it with a dive in the air for a 31-yard return to the 26. An exciting guy.
  • Short pass fails to pick up the first down but this time Slye is able to make the 48-yard field goal with 2:51 left in first quarter. Bears 3, 49ers 3
  • Teez Tabor in at safety in the nickel after no gain on first down and Jimmy G nearly throws him a pick. Could have had it. 
  • Niners start next drive at the 25. Bears with Danny Trevathan on and the Niners break a big run. A 27-yarder off left tackle by Elijah Mitchell. Then an 11-yarder to Samuel.
  • Jackson has a hamstring injury. Doubtful return. He was grabbing it as he was walking off the field.
  • Santos kicking with the wind on that to end 10 play, 41-yard drive that only died because of Daniels' flags.
  • Williams goes back in and loses 2. Bears have third-and-14 at 27. Can't understand why Williams is in except on third downs. Bears execute screen but flags flying at beginning and end of it. Daniels with a penalty again, illegally downfield on the screen. A third-down throw by Fields to James gets back 11. Bears trying a 39-yard Santos field goal. That's 36 in a row. Bears 3, 49ers 0
  • James Daniels holds on another good running play. Bears at the 31 of San Fran. Fields gets back some of it with an OB toss to Mooney at the 25.
  • Now Herbert is in and on first play rips off a 22-yard gain behind Jason Peters. 
  • Fields bootleg and he gains 3. Could have thrown it but didn't. Then Mooney gets open on  sideline route for a 14-yard completion for the first down at Niners 45. A good start to the drive.
  • Bears at their own 38 and they start Damien Williams over Herbert. He loses a yard on first down.
  • First drive the only pass rush the Bears managed came from Quinn. How they are without Jackson going forward will be an issue. Niners are sure to try to attack them deep there.
  • Bears rush only three, Garoppolo has forever and completes a 19-yarder to set up a field goal try of 48 yards by Joey Slye. Misses it wide right. Robbie would have made it.
  • Samuel has a high throw by Jimmy G go off his hands. Third-and-14 for the 49ers. Garoppolo scrambles but Trent Williams held Quinn. Third-and-24.
  • Robert Quinn always thought of as a pass rusher only but gets into the flat and knocks down Samuel on a catch for a 4-yard loss, very wide, too.
  • Third down run stuffed for a yard by Eddie Goldman but Niners go for the fourth down and extend the drive on a 2-yard run at Bears 35.
  • 49ers have been NFL's worst third-down team the last three weeks but they convert on a long throw to Mohamed Sanu against Vildor to Bears 48. After a pair of runs for 8 yards they face third-and-2.
  • Deebo Samuel dropped first pass on a short slant and then they went after Eddie Jackson deep but Jimmy Garoppolo overthrew an open receiver.  Jackson was shaken up at the end of the play and is limping off. Replaced by DeAndre Houston-Carson.
  • 49ers starting from the 33 after a shorter kickoff and 29-yard return.
  • 52 degrees, 13 MPH wind out of southwest.
  • Bears won toss and defer. First big Chris Tabor decision.

Pregame

  • Not getting to kick against his old team has to frustrate Robbie Gould. He has a groin injury and was placed on injured reserve Oct. 5. He has  been replaced by Joey Slye, who has made 80.3% of his kicks for the 49ers, Panthers and Texans.
  • 49ers not having Al-Shaair available important as he's an excellent pass coverage linebacker. Could let Cole Kmet or the backs get free for passes, that is, if they ever target a back again.
  • As expected, Akiem Hicks is playing. The Bears made him available to media on Friday and he wasn't dousing the idea. They don't let players talk when they're injured. Trent Williams playing for the 49ers is big. They'll have him to block Robert Quinn. 

INACTIVES

Bears

LB Caleb Johnson

QB Nick Foles

WR Breshad Perriman

DB Artie Burns

LB Khalil Mack

49ers

WR Travis Benjamin

CB Ambry Thomas

DB Demmodore Lenoir

LB Azeez Al-Shaair

DL Dee Ford

OL Aaron Banks

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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