The San Francisco 49ers won an absolute thriller against the Chicago Bears on Sunday night. However, in the process, they showed Niners fans exactly how they are going to break their hearts this time around.
It was an unbelievable game that saw San Francisco's offense put up 42 points against the Bears, and it ended up needing all of those points by the end of the night. Now, the 49ers are positioned to be the No. 1 seed in the NFC if they can defeat the Seattle Seahawks this coming Saturday.
It is a remarkable accomplishment the Niners are in this position, given all of the injuries they have sustained. It is a testament to head coach Kyle Shanahan they have this golden chance for a first-round bye, but anyone who watched Sunday's game knows San Francisco has a glaring weakness.
Ever since Nick Bosa and then Fred Warner went down with injuries, it seemed obvious the defense was going to be in a tough spot. Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and his staff deserve a ton of credit for getting as much as they can out of a young and untested unit, but those key losses are finally starting to catch up with the Niners.
Chicago put up 31 points on offense against the 49ers with the other seven coming courtesy of a pick-six from quarterback Brock Purdy on the very first offensive snap of the game.
It seemed like Chicago was able to move the ball at will throughout the contest, and the Niners just looked like they had no answers for much of the night. They were finally able to get some pressure on quarterback Caleb Williams on the final play of the game, but if his pass had gone just a yard or so further, we might be having a very different discussion.
Defense wins championships, and while San Francisco's offense is humming right now, it is going to be harder and harder to put up a bunch of points as defenses get tougher.
The 49ers defense is also getting exposed in a huge way as the last two times they have faced competent offenses, in the Los Angeles Rams and now the Bears, they have been absolutely picked apart.
Perhaps the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals having respectable offensive showings against the Niners should have been a warning sign.
Even though this was a tremendous, exciting win, 49ers fans have been burned far too many times in the past 15 years to think this iteration is destined for the promised land. With how wide open the NFL is this season, anything is possible. But it just seems like the defense is not good enough to get the team over the top this season, which is an absolute shame.