The Bears looked like they belonged — even in defeat — during postseason dress rehearsal

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — When it comes to the playoffs, the Bears don’t know what they don’t know.

After Sunday, though, we know more about them. A team with shockingly little playoff experience was neither overwhelmed nor overmatched Sunday night in the closest they’ll come to a dress rehearsal for the postseason.

The Bears lost 42-38 to the 49ers inside a raucous Levi’s Stadium, doomed by a defense that couldn’t rush the passer and an offense that stalled at the wrong times. As has happened all season, the game came down to one play — second-and-goal at the 49ers’ 2 with four seconds to play. Out of timeouts, the Bears hustled to spike the ball after throwing a hook-and-ladder pass from Caleb Williams to tight end Colston Loveland to running back D’Andre Swift.

Williams took the snap and, seeing no one open, pirouetted to his left as the clock struck zero. Before he could be hit along the left sideline, he short-hopped a pass to a diving Jahdae Walker.

Johnson said the Bears formation was askew in part because he called the play in to Williams a bit later than he would have liked.

“When you go on the road against a good team like that, you have to be on top of your mess,” coach Ben Johnson said.

The Bears will be either the No. 2 or 3 seed in the playoffs. To avoid the third seed, they need to either beat the Lions in Week 18 or have the Eagles lose their finale.

The next time the Bears will play in a similar environment would be in the NFC title game. That seemed no further away at the end of Sunday’s game than it did at the start.

“We went toe-to-toe with a great opponent and came up short on one play,” Swift said.

A 49ers team that had lost one game since before Thanksgiving — and hadn’t punted since November — was behind only 15 seconds after kickoff. Linebacker T.J. Edwards caught the Brock Purdy pass that had been tipped by cornerback Jaylon Johnson and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown.

That was the last whiff of defense the Bears would play for a while — the 49ers scored touchdowns on four of their next five possessions, powered by Purdy playing point guard and Christian McCaffrey winding his way to daylight.

The Bears countered, though, scoring four touchdowns in a five-drive span of their own.

Cairo Santos kicked a 28-yard field goal to take the lead with 5:26 to play. With a chance to march and win the game, the 49ers did exactly that. Purdy’s 38-yard pass to Jauan Jennings with 2:15 to play gave the 49ers a 42-38 lead. One week after throwing for five touchdowns, Purdy threw for three and ran for two despite playing without two of his best players.

The Bears played with a flu-ravaged roster. The 49ers, though, sat out star tight end George Kittle, who sprained his ankle Monday night, and watched 12-time Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams leave the game with a hurt hamstring during the team’s first possession.

The Bears still couldn’t manage a pass rush, totaling a lone Austin Booker sack. That won’t win in the postseason.

On offense, the Bears rallied behind their rookies. Receiver Luther Burden and tight end Colston Loveland caught a touchdown apiece. Burden caught a 14-yard pass on third-and-10 with 1:09 to play to keep the Bears’ drive alive. Burden, who played Sunday after missing a game with a sprained ankle, led the Bears with eight catches for 138 yards but was carted off the field after the final play after crumpling in the end zone.

The most charming part about the playoff push that landed the Bears first place in the NFC North was just how new this was to almost everyone inside Halas Hall. General manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson have never won a division in their current roles. Most of the Bears’ players haven’t, either.

Of the Bears’ 11 starters on offense, only two have ever won a division title in their careers: guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. Seven of the Bears’ 11 defensive starters have won a division. Only three Bears have won more than two division titles in their careers: Thuney, cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. That lack of experience cuts both ways — the Bears are either blissfully naïve to how difficult the playoffs will be or blindly walking into the shock of their lives.

Those outside Halas Hall might be able to say the same. If you’re a Bears fan under 18, you’ve seen them win exactly one playoff game in your lifetime. If you’re under 14, you’ve never seen them win one.

The Bears’ most likely opponent in the first round of the playoffs can make no such claim. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur coached eight postseason games in his first six seasons. He’ll add No. 9 in two weeks — likely at Soldier Field as the NFC playoffs’ No. 7 seed.

The 49ers reached the playoffs four of the past five years, winning one NFC title. The Rams made the playoffs six of the last eight years, winning one Super Bowl and losing another. The Seahawks have made the playoffs nine times since the Bears last won a playoff game. The Eagles, whom the Bears could play as soon as Round 2, are the defending Super Bowl champions.

The NFL is built for teams like the Bears to jump up every once in a while. It’s the league’s most dominant teams that stay in the upper echelon from year-to-year.

Going from worst-to-first in nothing new in the NFL — in 20 of the last 23 years, someone has won their division after finishing last the year before. The Bears did both this season and in 2018, when they went 12-4 to take the NFC North — only to lose to the Eagles at home on Cody Parkey’s “Double Doink.”

Perhaps that’s the best part about the Bears’ roster being so short on playoff experience as the enter a January that could be the franchise’s most crucial month in a generation. The Bears don’t carry a lot with them heading into the playoffs — but they don’t carry any baggage, either.