SANTA CLARA – A blowout win by the 49ers, after back-to-back lopsided losses, begged this question as the sun set Sunday on Levi’s Stadium: Too much, too late?
A 38-13 victory over the woeful Chicago Bears ended the 49ers’ three-game losing streak, but now an extended win streak must follow for a legitimate playoff push.
The 49ers (6-7) merely avoided losing ground in the congested NFC West race. They stayed two games behind first-place Seattle (8-5) and earned a shot Thursday night to pull even in second place with a win over the visiting Los Angeles Rams (7-6). The Cardinals (6-7) lost at home to the Seahawks while the Rams were en route to a home win against the Buffalo Bills.
Brock Purdy rebounded exceptionally from his 94-yard outing in the Buffalo snow. He passed for 325 yards and completed 20-of-25 passes with two touchdowns and no turnovers, including 258 yards in the first half as the 49ers built a 24-0 lead.
Purdy’s open-field muse was George Kittle, who racked up 151 yards on six catches, after his only catch last week came on the 49ers’ opening snap in Buffalo.
Jauan Jennings caught both of Purdy’s touchdown passes, and rookie Isaac Guerendo ran for two touchdowns in his staring debut in place of injured rushers Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason.
Aside from Purdy enduring a clothesline hit in the fourth quarter, the 49ers’ lowlight Sunday came minutes later when Guerendo left for the locker room with a foot injury. He produced 78 rushing yards (15 carries) and 50 receiving yards (two catches) before his exit with 6:13 left. Patrick Taylor Jr. followed a minute later with a 3-yard touchdown run and a 25-point lead.
The 49ers’ 24-0 halftime lead was their biggest since Purdy’s starting debut two years ago, when they led 28-0 en route to a 35-7 win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs. In Sunday’s first-half steamrolling, they outgained the Bears 319-4, and the 49ers’ much-maligned defense sacked rookie Caleb Williams four times.
Making their debut under interim coach Thomas Brown, the Bears (4-9) lost their seventh straight, and with 1:59 left, their defense celebrated an interception of Purdy’s backup, Brandon Allen.
The 49ers wasted no time getting over any jet lag (and sore feelings) from their defeats in Green Bay (38-10) and Buffalo (35-10). They opened Sunday with a 70-yard touchdown drive, starting and ending with 7-yard completions to Jennings; in between, Purdy found Guerendo for a 23-yard, third-down conversion and then Kittle for a 33-yard screen with lead blocks by Jaylon Moore and Jake Brendel.
The 49ers surged ahead 14-0 on a 1-yard run by Guerendo, who caught a 27-yard pass from a blitz-beating Purdy on the preceding play, with a 32-yard strike to Kittle starting that scoring drive.
Jennings’ 16-yard touchdown catch pushed the 49ers’ lead to 21-0, and the 49ers would have been up 28-0 had a 5-yard touchdown run by Purdy not been nullified by a Ricky Pearsall holding penalty. Instead, the 49ers settled for a 23-yard field goal from Jake Moody.
Defensively, the 49ers were just as dominant, receiving first-half sacks from Leonard Floyd (two), Yetur Gross-Matos and Maliek Collins. Gross-Matos got to Williams for back-to-back sacks in the fourth quarter.
The 49ers’ shutout bid ended on the Bears’ first drive after halftime, although it took them 9 minutes to march 70 yards and ultimately score on Williams’ third-and-goal, 4-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze. When Williams found Odunze with another touchdown pass with 11:48 remaining, that 14-yard scoring strike (over Ji’Ayir Brown) cut the 49ers’ lead to 31-13.
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It was the 49ers offense’s big-play production that blew open this game. By halftime, Purdy pumped out completions covering 23 yards (Guerendo), 33 (Kittle), 20 (Deebo Samuel), 32 (Kittle), 27 (Guerendo), 23 (Kittle), 18 (Kittle), Jennings (16) and Kittle (32).
A week ago in the Buffalo snow, Purdy threw for just 94 yards (11-of-18) for his lowest total in a start outside of an injury-marred NFC title game in January 2023.
It took until 2:36 left in the third quarter for the 49ers to make a second-half highlight: They were granted a fumble recovery upon a replay assist of Williams’ sleight-of-hand backward pass; Evan Anderson recovered for the 49ers.
Also joining the 49ers’ ever-expanding injury list was left guard Ben Bartch, who made his second straight start before leaving with a right ankle injury on the second drive. An unannounced injury briefly knocked out Malik Mustapha, who started over Brown next to Talanoa Hufanga in his comeback.