Sunday night, my hands were shaking when the game ended. The back-and-forth between the 49ers and the Bears was nerve-rattling, to say the least. Any game involving your favorite team that comes down to the final four seconds is enough to put anyone in therapy.
The game was a microcosm of the season, though. Of course, the 49ers lost their best offensive lineman, star left tackle Trent Williams, on the first offensive play of the game. Another offensive cornerstone, tight end George Kittle, was out because of an ankle injury sustained from a hip-drop tackle last week. How would the offense cope?
As it turned out, very well.
The first thing that kept it together was star quarterback Brock Purdy. Once again, he was on fire. Yes, he threw an interception that went back for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, but he then proceeded to throw for over 300 yards, sling three touchdowns, and rush for two more.
Last spring, people pontificated that Purdy was not worth the $50 million he was likely to get for his new deal. (I made a case for Purdy here.) They claimed that Brock is not a good athlete. For those who made this assertion, they need to watch this and this. Oh, yeah, he's not an athlete. Calling them "dumb" would be impolite. But "blind" would be acceptable—and they know nothing about football.
I have been critical of the offensive line in the past—and still believe there needs to be a major upgrade to that unit—but last night they were superb. For the most part, Purdy had time to throw, and Christian McCaffrey had his best game of the season on the ground, rushing for 140 yards.
And though Kittle was out, his replacement, Jake Tonges, had a huge game with seven catches and a score. (My wife, who has Kittle on one of her fantasy teams, picked up Tonges in case Kittle couldn't play. Yes, she is shrewd.) Ricky Pearsall also came through.
The defense was a different story. When an offense scores 42 points, the game should not be close. Instead, it came down to the final play. As has happened all too frequently this year, the defensive line produced no sacks and only three quarterback hits. The team only had five passes defensed, and two of those were passes batted by defensive linemen.
Bears' tight end Colston Loveland feasted on the 49ers linebackers and safeties with six catches for 94 yards and a score. Rookie Luther Burden III—a budding star—had eight for 138 and a touchdown.
But how do we judge this defense fairly? With star defensive end Nick Bosa and rookie first-round pick Mykel Williams out, situational pass rusher Bryce Huff has to play every down (the run is not his specialty), and the 49ers have rotational players on the other side of the line.
Additionally, defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos has been out for most of the year and has played sparingly when active. (He was one of the players who generated pressure on that last play and forced Bears quarterback Caleb Williams to make an errant throw.) How much more pressure would the defense produce if those players were on the field?
In coverage against Chicago tight ends, 49ers middle linebacker Tatum Bethune often looked lost, and the defense frequently appeared out of position. Would that have been the case if all-world defender Fred Warner, the best middle linebacker in the game, and perhaps the best coverage linebacker ever, had been on the field?
Warner is also the one who sets the formation before the snap. My guess is Loveland would have had only half of those receptions, and the Bears would not have converted some of their third-and-longs.
So how do we judge this defense? We certainly have to take the Bears' production—their 38 points (31 by the offense)—with a grain of salt.
But in this game, we saw what we have seen all year: both units playing their hearts out, showing guts and determination, and leaving everything on the field. Even with all of the injuries and a schedule that turned out not to be one of the easiest in the league, but rather against eight opponents who are in the playoffs and another that just missed them, San Francisco is 12-4 and has a shot at the number 1 seed in the NFC.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan has done perhaps his best job coaching, and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has gotten just enough production out of a ragtag unit to get us through the toughest of games.
Sunday night, we saw the 49ers, the grittiest team in the NFL, come through one more time. Let's hope they can continue that next week and for three postseason games.