SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brock Purdy threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns and the San Francisco 49ers bounced back from two blowout losses to beat Chicago 38-13 on Sunday and spoil interim coach Thomas Brown’s debut for the Bears.
The 49ers (6-7) had been outscored by 53 points the past two weeks in losses at Green Bay and Buffalo that left their playoff hopes teetering with several stars such as Christian McCaffrey, Nick Bosa and Trent Williams sidelined by injuries.
But San Francisco delivered a performance more reminiscent of a year ago when the Niners went to the Super Bowl, handing the Bears (4-9) their seventh straight loss.
Purdy delivered his third 300-yard passing game of the season with two TDs to Jauan Jennings, fill-in back Isaac Guerendo gained 128 yards from scrimmage and scored on two TD runs and George Kittle had six catches for 151 yards. That helped deliver the highest-scoring game of the season for the 49ers.
The defense did the rest with strong pressure from the four-man line that led to rookie Caleb Williams getting sacked seven times.
The Bears were looking for an emotional boost from the first in-season firing of a head coach in franchise history after letting Matt Eberflus go following a late-game clock mismanagement on Thanksgiving at Detroit.
Instead they came up on the short end of one of the most lopsided first halves in recent memory. Chicago was outgained 319-4 in the first half for the ninth-largest discrepancy since 1991, managed only one first down and trailed 24-0 at the break.
The Bears allowed Purdy and the San Francisco offense to move down the field with little resistance with the Niners scoring three TDs and one field goal on their first five possessions.
Chicago couldn’t move the ball at all on offense, generating minus-3 yards passing thanks to four sacks and losing 37 yards on five failed third down attempts.
Williams managed to throw two touchdown passes to Rome Odunze in the second half, but it was too late to get the Bears back into the game. Williams finished 17 for 34 for 134 yards and lost a fumble but had his seventh straight start without an interception.
Williams’ 56 sacks this season are the most for any Chicago quarterback since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
Injuries
Bears: Returner DeAndre Carter (hamstring) left in the first quarter and didn’t return. … RB Travis Homer (head) left the game in the second half.
49ers: Guerendo left the game in the fourth quarter with a foot injury. … LG Ben Bartch (ankle) left the game in the first half and didn’t return. Bartch was starting in place of the injured Aaron Banks and the Niners were forced to use third-stringer Spencer Burford the rest of the way.
Up next
Bears: Visit Minnesota on Monday night.
49ers: Host the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.
