The football gods have been good to the Bears this season.
Against the Cowboys, when the Bears were 0-2, CeeDee Lamb played just seven snaps because of an injury. The Bears played the Ravens without Lamar Jackson. The Bengals without Joe Burrow. The Steelers without Aaron Rodgers. The Packers without Micah Parsons.
They could face the 49ers and their red-hot offense without five-time All-Pro tight end George Kittle on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. Kittle sprained his ankle in the 49ers’ 48-27 victory over the Colts and is questionable for Sunday night’s game.
Another gift from the football gods? Perhaps. It would be typical of the Bears’ magical season if Kittle sits out a loss to the Bears on Sunday, then returns to beat the Seahawks in Week 18 to clear the path for the Bears to get the No. 1 seed in the NFC and the conference’s lone first-round bye.
But if that scenario doesn’t happen, the Bears might be better off facing a fully loaded 49ers team Sunday. The Bears are no longer untested after beating the playoff-bound Eagles and Packers. But with the potential for a deep playoff run and Super Bowl berth, the 49ers game is a valuable playoff-level test this team could use.
The 49ers are still in contention for the No. 1 seed themselves, and control their destiny. They’ll get the No. 1 seed with victories over the Bears on Sunday and against the Seahawks at home in Week 18.
Ben Johnson knows all too well that winning a game like this late in the season assures you of nothing — the Lions routed the Vikings in a Week 18 winner-take-all game for the NFC North title last season, then lost to the Commanders 45-31 at Ford Field in their playoff opener after a first-round bye. But the 2024 Lions were a playoff-tested team that faced the wrong opponent at the wrong time. The 2025 Bears are the less-common Super Bowl contender that is untested and still in a developmental stage. They need all the closed-book tests they can get.
Johnson’s offense has been the focus this season (the Bears have improved from 28th to 10th in scoring), but the biggest challenge is Dennis Allen’s defense vs. Kyle Shanahan’s offense. The 49ers are averaging 34.4 points in five games since quarterback Brock Purdy returned from a toe injury. With Purdy, running back Christian McCaffrey and Kittle leading the way, they scored 41 offensive points last week against the Colts; 37 against the Titans the previous week.
“They’re hot right now,” Johnson said Friday. “[Kyle] Shanahan is one of the best in the business at doing this. The playmakers are some of the top at their positions — Kittle, McCaffrey, Purdy is coming on. If you give him time back there, he can cut you up.
“The only thing that’s a little different than the San Francisco offenses of the past is they probably feature the pass a little bit more than the run. They are hot right now. We’ve got to be on our mess.”