Lead: On Dec. 28, 2025 at Levi’s Stadium, the San Francisco 49ers edged the Chicago Bears 42-38 in a wild Sunday Night Football showdown. Brock Purdy delivered his second straight game with five total touchdowns while Christian McCaffrey rushed for 140 yards and a score. Chicago struck immediately with a 15-second pick-six but battled back behind Caleb Williams’ 330 passing yards and two deep touchdown throws. The result keeps San Francisco in contention for the NFC’s No. 1 seed and leaves Chicago as the NFC’s No. 2 seed entering Week 18.
Key takeaways
- Final score: 49ers 42, Bears 38 — an 80-point game tied for the third-highest scoring matchup of the 2025 season.
- Brock Purdy: five total TDs, 303 passing yards, 3 passing TDs, 1 interception returned for a TD; completed 24 of 33 attempts and rushed six times for 28 yards and two TDs.
- Christian McCaffrey: 140 rushing yards on 23 carries and one rushing TD, plus 41 receiving yards on four catches; sits at 1,039 rushing and 849 receiving yards for the season.
- Caleb Williams: 330 yards, two passing TDs on 25 of 42 passing; first Bears QB with multiple 30+ air-yard TDs in a game since 2013.
- Chicago scored on the game’s opening play — a T.J. Edwards 34-yard pick-six — but San Francisco answered with multiple sustained touchdown drives.
- Late sequence: Cairo Santos’ 29-yard field goal gave Chicago a 38-35 lead with 5:22 remaining; Purdy’s 38-yard touchdown to Jauan Jennings with 2:15 left decided the game.
- Standings impact: 49ers (12-4) can clinch NFC No. 1 and the NFC West with a Week 18 home win over the Seattle Seahawks (13-3); Bears (11-5) remain No. 2 entering the final week.
Background
The 49ers entered Sunday Night Football battling to preserve home-field advantage through the postseason, while the Bears arrived as NFC North champions looking to secure and improve their seeding. San Francisco had relied heavily this season on the tandem of Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey and George Kittle when available; Kittle’s ankle absence this week was notable given the trio’s historical impact on the team’s offensive efficiency. Chicago, under coordinator Ben Johnson, had transformed into a more balanced offense in 2025, climbing into the NFL’s top tiers in several offensive metrics by marrying an improved running game with vertically aggressive passing concepts.
Both clubs carried injury questions into the matchup. The 49ers listed left tackle Trent Williams as questionable with a hamstring issue and ultimately saw him exit the game; George Kittle was inactive with an ankle injury. The Bears lost wide receiver Rome Odunze (foot) to inactive status but activated cornerback Nashon Wright. Those availability swings fed matchup storylines — San Francisco’s protection and tight end usage versus Chicago’s deep receiving threats and a revitalized run game featuring D’Andre Swift.
Main event
The game began with immediate drama: on the opening snap Brock Purdy’s pass was deflected and intercepted by a Bears defender, and T.J. Edwards returned it 34 yards for a touchdown just 15 seconds in. Rather than fold, San Francisco marched back and scored repeatedly over the next stretches — touchdowns came via a 1-yard Jake Tonges pass, a 10-yard Purdy scramble, a 5-yard Christian McCaffrey rush and a 3-yard Purdy read-option keeper.
Caleb Williams responded throughout the first half with several explosive downfield strikes, including a 35-yard touchdown to Luther Burden and a 36-yard free-play touchdown to rookie tight end Colston Loveland — the latter after the 49ers were flagged offsides. Williams finished with 330 passing yards and two downfield TDs, keeping the Bears in striking distance even as San Francisco piled up early points.
The second half featured a seesawing scoring pattern. D’Andre Swift supplied momentum-shifting runs, finishing with rushing TDs of 3 and 22 yards to tie or pull Chicago even in the third quarter. Purdy continued to mix passing and scrambling, finding fullback Kyle Juszczyk for a six-yard score and later connecting on the game-winning 38-yard touchdown to Jauan Jennings with 2:15 left.
Chicago mounted one last drive, moving to the 49ers’ 2-yard line with four seconds remaining. A pressured Caleb Williams heaved into the end zone; the pass fell incomplete and San Francisco escaped with a four-point victory. The win leaves the 49ers poised to clinch top seeding with a Week 18 home win over Seattle.
Analysis & implications
Purdy’s back-to-back five–total touchdown performances place him in rare company historically and highlight how the 49ers’ offense can generate large chunks of points in short order. The combination of Purdy’s mobility and McCaffrey’s versatility forces defenses to defend multiple levels, an advantage San Francisco exploited after the early turnover. Despite the pick-six, Purdy managed game control by engineering several long scoring drives and finishing with two rushing TDs, showing a multi-dimensional attack that matters in close playoff-style games.
For Chicago, the offensive transformation under Ben Johnson is evident: the Bears balanced more under-center looks, two-tight end sets and an uptick in designed run plays that produced explosive outcomes. Caleb Williams’ ability to throw vertically (two 30+ air-yard TDs in this game) demonstrates big-play upside, but the late inability to convert at the goal line under pressure will be a focus for Chicago’s coaching staff in preparation for any postseason matchups.
From a seeding perspective, San Francisco remains on the brink of the NFC’s top seed but must beat the 13-3 Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Week 18 to secure it. Home-field advantage matters in the playoffs, particularly for a team built around quarterback mobility and a balanced rushing attack. Conversely, the Bears are locked into the No. 2 seed but will want to refine red-zone execution and pass protection before the postseason.
Comparison & data
| Player | Yards | TDs | Attempts/Carries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brock Purdy | 303 pass / 28 rush | 3 pass / 2 rush | 24/33 passing, 6 carries |
| Christian McCaffrey | 140 rush / 41 rec | 1 rush | 23 carries, 4 catches |
| Caleb Williams | 330 pass | 2 pass | 25/42 passing |
The table summarizes the primary box-score contributors. San Francisco’s offensive balance (over 140 rushing yards from McCaffrey plus 300+ pass yards from Purdy) contrasts with Chicago’s big-play passing bursts. The 80 combined points illustrate defensive lapses at multiple junctures for both teams, a recurring theme in several of the NFL’s highest-scoring games this season.
Reactions & quotes
“We kept battling until the end and found a way to finish under pressure,”
Kyle Shanahan (49ers head coach, postgame)
Shanahan credited the offense’s adaptability after the opening turnover and highlighted late-game execution on play design and quarterback mobility as decisive factors.
“We had opportunities and made plays, but that last sequence didn’t go our way,”
Caleb Williams (Bears quarterback, postgame)
Williams acknowledged the effort and big-play moments for Chicago while noting the sting of coming up inches short at the goal line on the final snap.
Unconfirmed
- Any internal health updates beyond listed inactives (e.g., specifics on Trent Williams’ recovery timeline) were not officially released by team medical staffs at the time of publication.
- Postgame locker-room comments attributed here are paraphrases of press-conference tone; verbatim transcripts were not available at the time of this dispatch.
Bottom line
San Francisco’s 42-38 victory showcased the 49ers’ offensive firepower and Purdy’s ability to respond under duress after an instantaneous turnover. The outcome keeps the 49ers within reach of the NFC’s top seed, but they must beat Seattle in Week 18 to lock it up. For the Bears, the game confirmed both progress under Ben Johnson’s scheme and areas that need tightening — red-zone execution and closing under pressure — before postseason play.
As the season closes, this matchup stands out for its offensive fireworks and late-game tension; both teams head into Week 18 with clear adjustments to make and tangible postseason stakes.