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With a playoff berth secured and Chicago still vibrating from Caleb Williams’ overtime dagger against the Packers, the Bears head to Santa Clara this weekend carrying something they haven’t possessed in decades: legitimate January (and possibly February) aspirations.
Sunday night’s matchup against the 49ers presents more than just another primetime opportunity; it’s a chance to clinch the NFC North, reinforce their standing as one of the NFC’s true heavyweights, and continue the meteoric rise of a young quarterback who’s already altering the trajectory of the franchise.
Williams’ arrival has been loud, dramatic, and at times chaotic — but increasingly, it has felt inevitable. His 46-yard walk-off bomb to DJ Moore didn’t just beat Green Bay. It changed the conversation surrounding the Bears. It signaled a team capable of seizing moments rather than shrinking in them. It announced Williams as the kind of quarterback Bears fans have spent their entire lives watching from afar. And now, with two weeks left, the Bears can take the next step in that transformation. A win Sunday sends them home with a division crown and puts them firmly in the race for the NFC’s No. 1 seed—with a bit of help from the Carolina Panthers this week.
Syndication: The Post-CrescentThe personal stakes for Williams are just as significant. He is now 438 passing yards shy of Erik Kramer’s single-season franchise record (3,838), a mark that has stood untouched since 1995. Williams doesn’t need a statistical explosion to break it — just 220 yards per game over the final two contests. Given that he has thrown for more than 240 yards in consecutive cold-weather outings against elite defenses, it’s not hard to imagine him dismantling the record in the very stadium that will host Super Bowl LX. The poetic symmetry isn’t lost on anyone: The Bears are playing where they hope their season ends, with a quarterback writing a new chapter nearly every week.
There is also the possibility that by the time Chicago takes the field Sunday night, the division race will already be decided. If the Packers lose to the Ravens on Saturday, the Bears clinch the NFC North without even stepping onto the Levi’s Stadium grass. But even that scenario wouldn’t soften the importance of this game. Chicago is chasing momentum, credibility, and the kind of late-season sharpness that contenders cultivate. Williams’ poise in high-leverage moments has buoyed this team all season, but starting fast — something he has repeatedly identified as his next step — will be crucial against a 49ers team still hunting for playoff life.
This is a Bears roster that has flaws. Their defense, while opportunistic, has struggled against explosive offenses. Their penalties have arrived in bunches and at inopportune times. And Williams, for all his brilliance in late-game situations, still battles bouts of early-game inconsistency. But this team has also become the league’s most dangerous fourth-quarter problem. They’re 6-for-10 on game-tying or go-ahead drives that begin inside the final eight minutes of regulation or overtime. They’ve won walk-offs, survived shootouts, erased deficits, and grown accustomed to pressure. The Bears don’t just believe they’ll find a way — they expect to.
Matt Marton-Imagn ImagesThat belief is what makes Sunday so intriguing. Levi’s Stadium isn’t merely a venue this week; it’s a potential preview. If the Bears continue their ascent, if Williams continues to sharpen, if Ben Johnson continues to unlock layers of this offense, Chicago could very well return here in February with far more on the line. That’s the direction this season has been pointing for the last month. The only question now is whether the Bears can keep charting the course.
Williams has been asked repeatedly whether this feels like destiny. His answer has remained steady:
“That’s the cool part about destiny. You have to get to the end to know.”
Sunday won’t deliver that final answer. But it will reveal plenty about where this remarkable season is headed — and whether the Bears are ready to turn the page from arrival to domination.
For now, the Bears arrive in Santa Clara with something rare and powerful: opportunity. A chance to clinch. A chance to climb. A chance to announce, once again, that everything has changed.
Game Info
Chicago Bears (2025: 11-4) vs San Francisco 49ers (2025: 11-4)
TV: NBC (Mike Tirico, Chris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark)Streaming: NFL+, Peacock (Out of Market)Radio: ESPN 1000 AM (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie); LATINO MIX 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos)
Kickoff Time: 7:20 PM CTSite: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA,Referee: Alex MooreOdds: 49ers -3, O/U 52.5 (via BetMGM)
Bears Projected Starters
Jeff Hanisch-Imagn ImagesOffense
QB – Caleb Williams RB – D’Andre Swift WR – DJ Moore, Luther Burden III TE – Cole Kmet, Colston Loveland OL – Ozzy Trapilo, Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, Jonah Jackson, Darnell WrightDefense
DL – Montez Sweat, Andrew Billings, Gervon Dexter Sr., Austin Booker LB – Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, D’Marco Jackson CB – Jaylon Johnson, Nahshon Wright S – Kevin Byard III, Jaquan BriskerSpecialists
Cairo Santos (kicker), Tory Taylor (punter, holder), Scott Daly (long snapper), Devin Duvernay (kick and punt returner)49ers Projected Starters
Offense
QB – Brock Purdy RB – Christian McCaffrey WR – Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, Skyy Moore TE – George Kittle OL – Trent Williams, Spencer Buford, Jake Brendel, Dominick Puni, Colton McKivitzDefense
DL – Bryce Huff, Kalia Davis, Alfred Collins, Sam Okuayinonu LB – Dee Winters, Tatum Bethune, Luke Gifford CB – Darrell Luter Jr., Deommodore Lenoir, Upton Stour S – Malik Mustapha, Ji’Ayir BrownSpecialists
Eddy Piñeiro (kicker), Thomas Morstead (punter, holder), Jon Weeks (long snapper), Skyy Moore (kick and punt returner) Kelley L Cox-Imagn ImagesThree Bears
Every week, our Chicago Bears writers will give you their Bears player to watch in the matchup ahead. Three Bears is a staple of these previews, and with Bears coverage expanding this season, I thought it would be cool to involve all of the Bears thinkers in the exercise.
Patrick Flowers: Caleb Williams — With a playoff berth locked up, Caleb Williams has a chance to continue to announce his arrival by helping lead the Bears to another primetime victory, which would clinch the NFC North. Williams also has an opportunity to inch closer to Chicago’s single-season passing record (3,838), which was set by Erik Kramer in 1995. Williams is 438 yards shy of the record, and can break it by throwing for 220 yards per game in the final two games of the season. Williams has thrown for more than 240 yards in each of his last two games, both of which have come in cold-weather conditions against much better pass defenses than Williams will see in San Francisco.
Luis Medina: Nahshon Wright — The cornerback’s Pro Bowl snub still does not sit right with me. So what better time to prove yourself than under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football. Wright has five interceptions, three fumble recoveries, and a top-25 grade among cornerbacks at Pro Football Focus. What else could you ask for from a guy who is starting to fulfill the promise that Bears assistant coach Al Harris saw in Wright when they were together with the Dallas Cowboys?
Matt Rooney: Montez Sweat —The weak point of the Bears defense, and their team for the most part, has been the defensive line and most notably, the pass rush. If the Bears can’t get some pressure on Brock Purdy, he’s going to carve them up, and that will put too much pressure on the secondary to take the ball away. The Bears best pass rusher needs to step up in a big way again this week.
BN Bears Podcast: Bears vs 49ers
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