Remember the San Francisco 49ers’ shootout in New Orleans in 2019 — the game in which Jimmy Garoppolo and Drew Brees combined for nearly 700 passing yards and nine passing touchdowns, the one in which receiver Emmanuel Sanders caught and threw for a touchdown, the one in which George Kittle had his late-game catch-and-run heroics?
The 49ers had the same halftime yardage total — 319 — Sunday against the Chicago Bears as they did at halftime in New Orleans five years ago. The only difference is that they lost a yard on an end-of-half kneeldown on Sunday.
The 319 yards were the highest halftime total for any team this season while the Bears’ 4 yards were the lowest halftime total for any team. Chicago played better in the second half, but the final yardage total — 452 to 162 — remained lopsided.
Due largely to a 9-minute Bears drive to begin the third quarter, the time of possession wasn’t skewed as badly — 31:48 to 28:12 — in favor of San Francisco. The 49ers ran 61 plays versus 52 for the Bears. By game’s end, most of the 49ers’ starters were watching from the sideline, which should be a benefit considering the short turnaround before Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.
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Before dismantling Bears, the 49ers found their missing element: Desperation
Here’s how the individual snaps were divided:
Quarterback: Brock Purdy 57, Brandon Allen 4
Purdy survived an ugly hit in the fourth quarter on which Bears defensive end Darrell Taylor pulled him down by his neck. Kyle Shanahan on Monday said Purdy seemed to have “no lingering issues” from the play, which drew a roughing the passer penalty and likely will get further scrutiny from the NFL.
One of the themes this season has been how long Purdy has been holding onto the ball before his throws — more than 3 seconds, one of the longest durations of any starting quarterback. On Sunday, his time-to-throw stat was 2.87 seconds, per Next Gen Stats, which was in the middle of the pack.
This could have been bad: Darrell Taylor hits Brock Purdy high, then holds on to his neck as the two go to the ground…
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— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows.bsky.social) December 9, 2024 at 8:26 AM
Running back: Isaac Guerendo 34, Kyle Juszczyk (fullback) 31, Patrick Taylor Jr. 20, Deebo Samuel Sr. 5, Kittle 5, Ke’Shawn Vaughn 3
Guerendo suffered a foot sprain in the fourth quarter and his availability for Thursday is murky. Shanahan said Guerendo wouldn’t have been able to practice if the 49ers had held a session on Monday and seemed to doubt that he’d take part in Tuesday’s session.
“I’ll be surprised if he does much (Tuesday), but hopefully Thursday will be enough time for him,” Shanahan said.
If Guerendo can’t play against the Rams, Taylor, who had seven carries for 25 yards Sunday, would get his first career start with Vaughn and newcomer Israel Abanikanda backing him up, likely in that order.
Guerendo, meanwhile, looked an awful lot like former 49ers tailback Raheem Mostert on a second-quarter run in which he beat a Bears defender to the sideline and gained 30 yards. Per Next Gen Stats, he reached 20.17 mph on the carry, the third-best speed for a ball carrier in Week 14. He hit 19.88 mph on a catch and run in the first quarter, the seventh-fastest speed so far this week.
The 49ers gave Isaac Guerendo extra credit for this first-quarter catch because it was made on the NE corner of the field while looking into the low winter sun… pic.twitter.com/iy8CPue06r
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) December 9, 2024
Wide receiver: Jauan Jennings 45, Samuel 43, Ricky Pearsall 30, Chris Conley 15. Jacob Cowing 3
Jennings, who had two touchdown catches Sunday, has caught six of the eight touchdowns by 49ers’ receivers this season with Samuel and Pearsall catching one each.
The 49ers tried to get Samuel going as a runner and receiver on Sunday. Some plays seemed promising but he was unable to slip from — or stomp through — the defense as he’s done in previous years. He averaged 2.6 yards a carry Sunday and has a 2.9-yard average for the season.
Samuel’s rushing averages:
- 2019: 11.4
- 2020: 3.3
- 2021: 6.2
- 2022: 5.5
- 2023: 6.1
- 2024: 2.9
Tight end: Kittle 47, Eric Saubert 17, Brayden Willis 4, Jake Tonges 3
Of Kittle’s 151 receiving yards, 103 came after the catch. That’s his highest total since he had 109 YAC yards in a Week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in 2021.
Kittle had 32 yards on a rarely-used tight end screen in the first quarter. He said that the 49ers leaned on their screen game more than usual on Sunday because the Bears defensive ends were so aggressive in getting up the field.
How often do the 49ers run that play to the tight end?
“In the last five years — twice,” Kittle said. “It was probably like in ‘20, ‘21.”
GO DEEPER
Before dismantling Bears, the 49ers found their missing element: Desperation
Offensive line: Dominick Puni 61, Jaylon Moore 61, Jake Brendel 58, Colton McKivitz 58, Spencer Burford 51, Ben Bartch 10, Sebastian Gutierrez 3, Nick Zakelj 3
Burford got praise from teammates for stepping in at right guard — not his usual position — after Bartch suffered a high ankle sprain in the first quarter. Burford practices at both tackle and guard during the week, with most of the latter coming at left guard. He allowed one quarterback pressure on Sunday.
Shanahan said Aaron Banks is now out of concussion protocol and should be able to step back into his left guard spot on Thursday. Bartch likely is headed to injured reserve.
Gutierrez, who was added to the 53-man roster Saturday, played three snaps at right tackle; Zakelj got his first offensive snaps since Week 1 when he was in for the game’s final, kneeldown snap.
Defensive line: Sam Okuayinonu 39, Maliek Collins 30, Leonard Floyd 28, Yetur Gross-Matos 27, Jordan Elliott 26, Robert Beal Jr. 20, Evan Anderson 14, Kalia Davis 14, Khalil Davis 14
It’s remarkable that Gross-Matos had three sacks and Floyd two despite scant opportunities. Both were in on only 19 pass-rush snaps. That’s the third-fewest of the season for Floyd, who’s played every game so far.
The seven-sack game reorganized the 49ers’ sack-leader list. Floyd is first with 8 1/2, followed by Nick Bosa (7) and Collins (5). Collins essentially took over Arik Armstead’s spot this year. Armstead last year had five sacks in 12 games. This year he has one sack for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Bosa continues to be day-to-day with a hip/oblique injury. He said Sunday that he couldn’t have played against the Bears and is taking a wait-and-see approach to the Rams game.
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Linebacker: Fred Warner 46, De’Vondre Campbell Sr. 34, Dee Winters 27, Jalen Graham 7
Winters emerged with an ankle injury and is day-to-day this week. He started Sunday’s game as the third linebacker but took over for Campbell at weakside linebacker in the second half. Winters played well overall but dropped an interception — and pick-six — opportunity in the first quarter.
Shanahan said Dre Greenlaw has “a chance” to make his 2024 debut against the Rams but said it will hinge on how Greenlaw looks in practice this week.
Cornerback: Deommodore Lenoir 46, Renardo Green 45, Charvarius Ward 44, Isaac Yiadom 9, Nick McCloud 7
Shanahan said Sunday’s sack fest was tied to strong coverage by the 49ers’ secondary. The standout of the group was Green, who was targeted five times and allowed three catches for 21 yards.
Safety: Malik Mustapha 45, Talanoa Hufanga 39, Ji’Ayir Brown 15, Tashaun Gipson Sr. 7
The 49ers seemed to get a lift from Hufanga’s return to the starting lineup and Shanahan noted that the safety was in on the first tackle of the game. Asked why Hufanga replaced Brown and not the rookie, Mustapha, in the starting lineup, Shanahan said Mustapha simply has been better.
“I think he’s been playing at a higher level,” Shanahan said. “He’s been one of the better players on our defense, I think, over the last month or so. Nothing against (Brown). We still wish he could be out there. But when we had to make a decision we kept Mustapha out there.”
Special teams: Tonges 24, Yiadom 19, Conley 18, Willis 18, Graham 18, McCloud 18, Beal 17, Saubert 17, Taylor 17, Jake Moody 13, Winters 12, Pat O’Donnell 9, Taybor Pepper 8, Hufanga 7, Brown 7, McKivitz 6, Puni 6, Moore 6, Zakelj 6, Spencer Burford 6, Gutierrez 5, Samuel 3, Bartch 1, Gipson 1, Anderson 1, Elliott 1, Gross-Matos 1, Campbell 1, Collins 1, Mustapha 1, Warner 1, Lenoir 1
The special teams didn’t have any crippling plays on Sunday, but it wasn’t a perfect effort, either. Moody had two kickoffs that failed to land in the landing zone between the goal line and the 20-yard line. This year that’s a penalty in which the ball is placed at the receiving team’s 40-yard line.
(Photo: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
