It was a great performance all-around for the Niners offense
The San Francisco 49ers started out hot as Brock Purdy completed six of his first seven completions for 93 yards. Kyle Shanahan called a masterful opening drive. George Kittle took a screen 33 yards. Isaac Guerendo caught a pass underneath and ran for 23 yards. Jauan Jennings capped an efficient drive off with a touchdown for a 7-0 early lead for the 49ers.
The defense answered the bell with a three-and-out of their own. They could have had an interception on the second drive, as Caleb Williams threw it between the 5 and the 3 of Dee Winters. Yetur Gross-Matos ended the second drive with a sack. Leonard Floyd did the honors on the third drive, bringing down Williams to end yet another Bears drive.
Williams was playing slowly, didn’t look comfortable, and was holding onto the ball. That was all playing into the Niners’ hands.
The 49ers weren’t shy about throwing Guerendo the ball. On his second target, he caught a route down the sideline, made an adjustment looking into the sun, and made a difficult catch for a 27-yard gain before punching it in to give San Francisco an early 14-0 lead.
The 49ers outgained the Bears by 157 net yards after the first quarter. On their third drive, Colton McKivitz allowed a sack, but Kittle had receptions of 23 and 18 yards to go over 100 receiving yards early in the second quarter.
The 49ers had a 4th & 1 opportunity, and Brock Purdy converted with a first down to keep the drive alive and bring the Niners within footsteps of the red zone. Shortly after, Purdy would connect with Jennings for another touchdown — fittingly on third down.
So, midway through the second quarter, Jennings had a couple of touchdowns, Kittle was over 100 yards receiving, and Purdy had thrown as many incompletions (1) as the Bears had first downs.
The defense continued to pressure Williams. On its fourth drive, Maliek Collins foiled the Bears scoring opportunity with a sack.
Shanahan continued to “go for the throat” after scheming Kyle Juszczyk open down the sidelines. Purdy underthrew Juszczyk, but Guerendo ripped off a 30-yard run, and Kittle was wide open over the middle for 32 yards. It was Purdy’s fifth completion over 20 yards early in the game.
A Ricky Pearsall holding penalty negated a Purdy walk-in touchdown run. Jake Moody’s 23-yard field goal gave the 49ers a 24-0 run.
The Bears looked lifeless in the first half. They had more punts (5) than total yards(4) and had been sacked four times.
They had their best drive of the game to open the second half.
Chicago possessed the ball for over nine minutes on 16 plays, marching 70 yards for a touchdown. It was the same sleepy Niners defense we’ve seen when they have a lead. It was a unit that looked fat and happy because they were up on the scoreboard. Williams’s four-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze made it 24-6. Chicago’s two-point attempt failed.
Would Shanahan remain aggressive? Would the offense keep its foot on the gas? Twenty-four wasn’t going to be enough to win the game. Ricky Pearsall appeared to get behind the defense on third down, but Purdy couldn’t connect with him, and Chicago would get the ball back after a three-and-out.
Chicago converted a third down after Leonard Floyd was in a zone defending Keenan Allen. Williams ended up fumbling inadvertently. Evan Anderson was Johnny on the spot, and the Niners took over from their 38-yard line.
Shanahan drew up a shot play to Jennings, and Purdy hit him just in time for another explosive play. The gain of 39 yards put San Francisco near Chicago’s red zone. Purdy found Kittle on 3rd & 4 for 13 yards before Guerendo went into the end zone untouched to pad the Niners lead 31-6.
Nick Sorensen’s way of manufacturing pressure today has been to change the post-snap picture for Caleb Williams. There are lots of different types of creeper blitzes, with defensive linemen dropping off into coverage trying to take away the first window. It led to Williams holding the ball and scrambling.
Despite some success, Williams was elusive enough to stay out of negative plays. Ji’Ayir Brown was a split second late on one play, which was enough time for Williams to find Odunze for another score to trim the lead to 31-13.
Guerendo left with a foot injury and did not return. He finished the contest with 78 yards on 15 carries, including a long of 30 with two touchdowns. The game appeared to be out of reach, but that was the third runner the Niners had lost this season. Not having Guerendo moving forward would be catastrophic after what the rookie pulled off on Sunday afternoon.
Brock Purdy was aggressive and effective, going 20-for-25 for 325 yards and a handful of explosive plays. George Kittle and Jauan Jennings were featured, and the 49ers looked the best they had since the last time those two were featured.
The Niners ended up winning 38-13 and will have a quick turnaround against the Rams on Thursday night.