The San Francisco 49ers beat the Chicago Bears 42-38 on Sunday in a high voltage offensive game and will now play for first place in the National Conference against the Seattle Seahawks in a direct duel in the decisive Week 18.
49ers and Bears came into this game with an 11-4 record. With the Seahawks at 13-3, whichever team lost was out of contention for first place in the National Conference.
The Bears (11-5) have already clinched the North division title, which will give them home field advantage in the first round of the NFL playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks (13-3) and 49ers (12-4), who compete in the West division, are playing not only for the National Conference lead and a bye in the first round, but also to avoid falling as a wild card team and thus losing the valuable home-field advantage.
49ers win key duel
CLUTCH
📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/boXCpeLR3J
– San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 29, 2025
Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara (California) witnessed an electric game between the 49ers and the Bears, exactly six weeks before Super Bowl LX, which will be played in this same venue.
It was a true offensive festival with 11 touchdowns, defenses that could not stop their opponents and a scoreboard that never opened to more than one possession.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy shined with two rushing touchdowns and three touchdown passes, completing 24 of 33 attempts for 303 total yards.
Caleb Williams, the Bears’ quarterback, completed 25 of 42 passes, two for touchdowns, for 330 yards.
Williams, however, failed to connect on the pass that, with time running out and just two yards from the end zone, would have given the Bears an epic victory.
It all started with a T.J. Edwards interception on the first play of the game, which turned into the first touchdown with just 15 seconds played from the kickoff.
The 49ers responded with a 3-minute, 48-second offensive series to tie the game with a Jake Tonges touchdown.
That was the kickoff to a quick exchange of blows that left the score 14-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Purdy scored his first touchdown after a three-play, 66-yard scoring drive in 1:21, quickly answered by Williams with a 35-yard pass to Luther Burden III, scoring in 1:54.
At halftime, the score was 28-21 after Christian McCaffrey scored for the 49ers, finding Colston Loveland’s response after another spectacular 36-yard pass from Williams.
Purdy gave San Francisco the lead with his second touchdown before parading to the locker room.
D’Andre Swift tied it for the Bears and Kyle Juszczyk put the 49ers back ahead in the third quarter, which ended 35-28.
To open the final quarter, Swift scored for the second time to make it 35-35.
The 49ers’ defense stepped up and managed to stop the Bears’ next offensive series at the 11-yard line, forcing Cairo Santos to kick a field goal that put Chicago ahead, although they were already playing against the clock.
San Francisco responded with a Jauan Jennings touchdown to make it 42-38, leaving the Bears a final possession of just over three minutes, a situation that Chicago had resolved with a win six times this season.
But this time it was not to be.
The Bears advanced to the San Francisco 2-yard line with just four seconds on the clock.
Stifled by the 49ers, Williams threw a short pass that bounced along the ground before Jahdae Walker could catch it.
End of match.
Filed under: 49ers win key duel against Bears
With information from EFE
