An offensively challenged Justin Fields and the Bears frustrated the 49ers defense for much of Week 8 despite the Niners getting a much-needed win.
For those thinking the San Francisco 49ers could continue the trend of making Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields look bad in Week 8, well, that didn’t happen.
Chicago ended the 49ers’ four-game losing streak by falling to head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad 33-22 at Soldier Field in a game when coordinator DeMeco Ryans’ defense had few answers but Shanahan’s offense finally hit a stride after halftime.
Fields, the No. 11 overall pick from this year’s NFL Draft who entered the game completing just over 57 percent of his passes with only two touchdowns tossed against six interceptions, looked much more like a polished two-year pro against a Niners defense that seemingly had no answers for the scuffling rookie.
Especially considering Fields and the Bears went 6-of-8 on third-down attempts in the first half.
Meanwhile, head coach Kyle Shanahan continued to put his faith in quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, whose first win with San Francisco came at Chicago’s Soldier Field way back in 2017.
Garoppolo had his splash moments, including a 50-yard near-touchdown pass to wide receiver Deebo Samuel towards the end of the first half that resulted in a field goal. And Garoppolo nearly had himself an 83-yard screen-pass touchdown to Samuel in the third quarter, but the officials determined Samuel went out of bounds just before the goal line.
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At least Jimmy G rushed it in for a 1-yard touchdown to get within a point after kicker Joey Slye’s extra-point attempt was missed just under six minutes in the third quarter, Garoppolo’s first of two touchdowns on the ground.
Garoppolo finished the game going 17-of-28 for 322 yards, zero pass touchdowns against no interceptions, the rushing score and a passer rating of 100.6. Samuel, despite having two drops early in the game, still proved why he’s one of the league’s most dangerous receivers, hauling in six receptions for 171 yards to stay within the top five of NFL leaders.
Fields, meanwhile, gave the 49ers more fits.
49ers defensive problems continue vs. Justin Fields
Fields and the Bears offense statistically ranked at or near the bottom in nearly every meaningful category entering Week 8, which was hopefully going to be a sign for Ryans and the Niners defense they could get back on track after having difficulty with quarterback Carson Wentz and the Indianapolis Colts the previous week.
Perhaps Chicago not having head coach Matt Nagy (COVID) on the field actually helped here, as the Bears regularly got Fields outside on easy bootleg throws frequently featuring his tight ends.
And when those weren’t there, Fields was able to pick up extra yards with his legs, rushing for a total of 103 yards, a touchdown and averaging 10.3 yards per attempt.
More penalties, too, including a team-worst sixth penalty on cornerback Josh Norman for defensive holding.
But perhaps the most impressive play of the game was Fields’ 4th-and-1, 22-yard scramble for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, which made the entire Niners defense look as if it was on skates:
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By the time the final whistle blew, Fields had gone 19-of-27 through the air for 175 yards, a pass touchdowns against a last-second interception with a 84.6X passer rating.
San Francisco had trouble engineering an effective pass rush early yet finished with X sacks against Fields, who had taken a league-high 22 sacks entering Week 8. There was a lack of contain on the outside, too, often allowing Fields to escape the pocket beyond the tackles. And tackling wasn’t exactly a proud point for Ryans’ unit either. If anything, it was downright bad.
As a related result, the Bears didn’t have to punt until almost the two-minute mark of the third quarter.
Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers offense finally finds a rhythm
It might as well have been a tale of two halves for Garoppolo and the 49ers offense, particularly after going just 2-of-6 on third-down attempts in the first half and generating only eight first downs to Chicago’s 12 during those two quarters.
Garoppolo’s rushing touchdown helped set a change in tone, though, and it was also refreshing to see wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk get involved more, too.
Aiyuk, who had been so scantly targeted over the previous six games, finished the game with four receptions for 45 yards and caught the two-point conversion on the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, scored by running back Elijah Mitchell:
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Mitchell, meanwhile, shouldered the load on the ground with 18 carries for 137 yards and the score.
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If it weren’t for Fields’ touchdown response, that might have been the signature drive of the game for either team.
Fortunately, Garoppolo and the Niners offense answered right back with another scoring drive and another Garoppolo run-in touchdown, which was weird to see with rookie quarterback Trey Lance on the bench and usually getting those kinds of calls.
Nonetheless, San Francisco should at least feel happy the offense could respond.
That response was necessary, as the 49ers defense now has some questions to answer after not making life difficult on Fields anywhere close to what was expected.
At least the Niners finally ended their losing streak and improve to 3-4.