The Bear Facts Against Niners

San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Bears

Kickoff: Sunday, noon, Soldier Field, Chicago

TV: Fox (Joe Davis, Daryl Johnston, Pam Oliver)

Radio: WBBM AM-780, FM-105.9 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote)

Spanish Radio TUDN AM-1200, Latino Mix FM-93.5 (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

Streaming: fubo TV (free trial offer)

Latest Betting Line: 49ers by 7 (Over/under 40 1/2). Money Line, Bears, $100 wins $240. 49ers, $300 wins $100. Latest info at SI.com sports book.

The Series: 69th regular-season game The 49ers lead the series 35-32-1. The series started in 1950 when the 49ers came over from the All-American Football Conference. The teams have split the last six games. The 49ers can become the first team to win consecutive games in the series since they won in 2009 and 2012. San Francisco won last year 33-22. The Bears won in 2018 in San Francisco 14-9. The Bears haven't beaten San Francisco at home since 2016 when they won 26-6 in a game when Colin Kaepernick was benched due to poor play in the first half.

The Coaches: Matt Eberflus makes his coaching debut after coaching 14 years as an assistant in the NFL and 31 years overall. He is trying to become the fifth Bears coach to win his debut. The others were George Halas in 1920, Neil Armstrong in 1978, Dick Jauron in 1999 and Marc Trestman in 2013. Kyle Shanahan is 39-42 as a head coach with the 49ers in six seasons. He is 2-1 against the Bears.

The Teams: The 49ers are coming off their second trip to the NFC championship game in three years but have changed quarterbacks. Second-year QB Trey Lance starts after starting two games last year. Chicago area native Jimmy Garoppolo is now the backup.

Justin Fields makes his 11th career start and first in Luke Getsy's offense. Fields gained 103 yards rushing against the 49ers last year, making him the first Bears QB to go over 100 yards rushing since Bobby Douglass in 1973. The Bears could be starting a rookie draft pick at left tackle on opening day for the first time in 30 years if Braxton Jones lines up there to start the game. Two starting positions on the offensive line are different than at the end of last year, either Teven Jenkins or Lucas Patrick at right guard and Jones. The other new offensive starter is Equanimeous St. Brown at wide receiver with Darnell Mooney. Byron Pringle would also be a new starter if they line up in a three-receiver set to begin the game. The Bears defense has six new starters: Rookie safety Jaquan Brisker, rookie cornerback Kyler Gordon, left defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad, defensive tackle Angelo Blackson, defensive tackle Justin Jones and linebacker Nicholas Morrow.

Injury Report: Bears, WR Velus Jones Jr. doubtful (hamstring), DE Dominique Robinson questionable (knee).

49ers, TE George Kittle questionable (groin), G Daniel Brunskill out (hamstring).

Of note: On Saturday, the Bears picked NT Mike Pennel back up for the practice squad after cutting him earlier, then elevated he and guard/center Dieter Eiselen to the 53-man roster. ... Bears WR Darnell Mooney has 142 catches in his first two seasons, the most by any Bears player for their first two years. ... Bears TE Cole Kmet's 60 catches last year tied him for fourth most in a season by a Bears tight end. That was Greg Olsen's single-season high in Chicago, as well. ... With 101 career sacks, Bears DE Robert Quinn is sixth among active players. Von Miller leads with 115 1/2. ... Roquan Smith is the fastest Bears player since 1994 to reach 500 career tackles, doing it in 61 games. Brian Urlacher did it in 63 games and Lance Briggs in 71 games. ... San Francisco's defense ranks first in the league over the last three years in yards allowed and passing yards allowed. ... Deebo Samuel averaged 18.2 yards per catch last year, a league high among wide receivers. ... The 49ers have 64 touchdowns rushing in the last three seasons, second in the NFL behind the Titans. ... 49ers running back Elijah Mitchell had 963 yards rushing last year, second highest total for rookies.

Dan Hampton and Dave Wannstedt think the Bears are going to win!
— Steven H. Baumann (@StevenHBaumann) September 11, 2022

Key Matchups

Bears LB Roquan Smith vs. 49ers C Jake Brendel

Brendel, an undersized (6-4, 299) undrafted journeyman who started last year and had one other season as a starter in Miami. He was waived by Dallas, Denver and Baltimore and released by the Dolphins. Smith, a second-team All-Pro, is playing weak side linebacker now and will challenge the interior of the line at times but but will be off the ball as well.

Bears DT Justin Jones vs. 49ers RG Spencer Burford

It's Jones' first regular-season game playing Bears three technique but he likes how the position allows him to attack constantly. Jones, who is 6-3, 309, has been in the league four years, all with the Chargers and has 118 tackles, 12 for loss. The Bears are counting on the TFL total to climb greatly this year. Burford is undersized by NFL standards for a guard but it's not necessarily a detriment in their wide-zone blocking scheme. He is 6-5, 295. A fourth-round pick in April from Texas-San Antonio, this is easily the biggest game he's ever played in. He was thought to be a tackle coming out of college but in the NFL things change and he's at guard. Curiously, speed is something linemen in the wide zone need but according to NFL MockDraftable, Burford's 5.19-second 40 time put him in the bottom 14% for timings at his position in the draft.

This will be a very important game for Roquan Smith. Fred Warner is the 2nd highest paid LB at $19 million per year. If Ro wants to set the market he will have to show he’s the better of the two. I think he will. #DaBears #Bears
— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) September 10, 2022

Bears WR Darnell Mooney vs. 49ers S George Odum

It's going to take sending Mooney downfield to have him matched up on Odum, but he's the fastest healthy Bears receiver and that was supposed to be a great strength of his coming into the draft. It's just that Matt Nagy rarely let him attack downfield. If they can get him matched up deep on Odum, they should have an advantage. Odum has started just 10 games in a four-year career. He was a sub for Matt Eberflus' Colts defense and the 49ers brought him in to fortify their depth in free agency. He wound up starting because of a severe hamstring injury to Jimmy Ward.

Bears WR Byron Pringle vs. 49ers CB Samuel Womack III

Pingle has missed most of training camp and all of preseason with a quad injury but that should be healed at this point, five weeks after he suffered it. Working in the offense shouldn't be a problem as he was with the Bears all offseason learning the attack. Trying to match Pringle up for catch-and-run situations in the middle of the field, or any Bears receiver for that matter, should be easier because the 49ers are relying on rookie Samuel Womack as their slot cornerback. Playing the slot cornerback position is one of the toughest assignments on defense and the 49ers are doing what the Bears are doing—they're letting a rookie handle it in his first pro game. But they aren't turning it over to a second-round pick from a major school with a reputation for producing defensive backs such as Washington, like the Bears are with Kyler Gordon. Instead, Womack is a fifth-round cornerback from Toledo and was a walk-on in the MAC. He wasn't invited to the NFL scouting combine. Womack, however, impressed immmediately against the Packers in preseason by interception a throw for Amari Rodgers and another for Romeo Doubs.

Bears T Braxton Jones vs. 49ers DE Nick Bosa

It's Jones' debut and what a person to face first. Bosa has 24 1/2 career sacks and six games with multiple sacks. Bosa, from Southern Utah, has likely never faced a defensive lineman as tenacious.

For Jones the key is limiting the number of bad plays and getting his hands on Bosa as soon as possible.

Bears CB Kyler Gordon vs. 49ers WR Deebo Samuel

The 49ers will line up their ace receiver all over the formation, even in the backfield at times. Quite often they'll have him challenge in the slot with an overload on one side, and Gordon will be handling nickel responsibilities. Can the rookie tackle a receiver who plays like a physical tight end but runs like the fastest X- or Z-receivers? Tackling will be at a premium for Gordon, whose strength is sticking to receivers but not necessarily being physical with them.

Bears S Jaquan Brisker vs. 49ers TE George Kittle

The Bears don't have to bring the safety down to cover the tight end but they probably will more than they don't. Especially considering it's Kittle, it's better to leave him in the hands of a physical safety than a linebacker. Brisker can physically handle the job, but he is coming off a broken thumb and it is his first game. He'll be wiser for the challenge.

Bears G Teven Jenkins vs. 49ers DT Javon Kinlaw

Kinlaw played only four games last year in his second season due to a knee injury but when he was a rookie he was a load. The 49ers move him from left to right tackle depending on the strength of the formation. When he lines up over Jenkins, he'll be facing a totally inexperienced guard with just two preseason games at the position. It's possible the Bears will start Lucas Patrick at right guard but he hasn't practiced since July before this week and when he did it was at center. When the 6-foot-5, 319-pound Kinlaw is on the other side he is a size and strength mismatch for Cody Whitehair.

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