The Chicago Bears kicked off the Matt Eberflus era with a 19-10 upset win over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Bears trailed 10-0 in the third quarter before scoring 19 unanswered points in the second half to shock the football world with a win over a talented 49ers team.
Now, Chicago sits atop the NFC North (along with the Minnesota Vikings) at 1-0 with the winless Green Bay Packers on deck next Sunday night.
There was plenty to breakdown following Chicago’s season-opening win over San Francisco. Our Bears Wire staff is sharing their thoughts following the Week 1 game.
The Bears’ Week 1 win vs. 49ers
Alyssa Barbieri
If you would’ve told me at the end of the first half that the Bears would mount an impressive second-half comeback against the 49ers on a rain-soaked field, I’d have thought you were crazy. Even as Chicago only trailed 7-0 at halftime. That’s how bad the offense was in the first half. Nothing was clicking, and it didn’t even matter that it was against a dominant 49ers defense. But then something amazing happened: the Bears made halftime adjustments, and they found a rhythm that included three second-half touchdowns and a strong defensive outing to best the 49ers 19-10.
Chicago opened the Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles era with the kind of hard-fought effort that I expect in all 17 games this season. The Bears might not have the most experienced or talented roster, but they’ve bought in to the culture Eberflus is establishing. This group is going to play with intensity and keep fighting, and we saw that in an impressive second-half performance where Chicago scored 19 unanswered points to knock off a team that many had pegged to be Super Bowl contenders.
The defense was impressive in its regular-season debut, holding the 49ers to 10 points (including just three in the second half), with Eddie Jackson, Dominique Robinson and Jaquan Brisker and Roquan Smith, among others, stepping up. Quarterback Justin Fields sputtered out of the gate, including behind a struggling offensive line, but he found a way to make plays for this team when they needed it. The stat sheet won’t tell you he had a good performance (except maybe the two touchdowns), but it was an impressive outing by the second-year QB.
It’s also kind of karmic that this crazy weather game happened the same week that the Bears presented plans for an enclosed Arlington Heights stadium. The Bears haven’t won many games because of the weather conditions at Soldier Field. But it certainly played a huge factor in Sunday’s upset win.
Simply put, this game was fun. You could see it on the field, in the stands and on the sidelines. It was ugly, sure, but it’s the kind of game that makes you excited for the future of this team.
Brendan Sugrue
Talk about a tale of two halves. But unlike previous seasons, this time the Bears were on the right side of things when the final whistle blew. The game looked bleak during the first half, however, when it appeared Matt Nagy’s offense was still installed. The Bears were slow to adjust to the poor field conditions and looked to be running at half the speed as the 49ers. Going into the half with little to no offense generated while riding the defense’s back was all too familiar from the last couple of years.
But unlike the previous regime, Matt Eberflus’ staff actually knows how to make adjustments in the second half. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy gave Justin Fields max protection more often, which gave the quarterback enough time to make plays and get his confidence going. From there, it was a snowball effect. They had momentum on their side and used the run game to set up deep passes to keep the foot on the gas pedal. San Francisco looked lost as the rain came pouring down to end the game and the Bears looked like they had a giant monkey off their back.
The game wasn’t pretty as a whole but holding one of the finalists for the NFC championship to just 10 points is an accomplishment. Seeing the videos and photos of the players smiling, laughing, and sliding will be the lasting images of this game, though. They’re buying what this new staff is selling and I can’t wait to see them grow together. It’s easier to do that when you’re 1-0, too.
Ryan Fedrau
The Bears are 1-0 with a huge win at home against the 49ers. Despite being heavy underdogs, Justin Fields led his offense to a nine-point victory. The field conditions were awful, but I was impressed on how Chicago stuck together as a team, even after falling down 10-0. Something switched at halftime, where the Bears took the momentum and never seemed to give it back.
Next week the team travels to Green Bay. If the same Bears who played in the fourth quarter against the 49ers shows up, they have a chance. If not, it could be ugly.
Jarrett Bailey
The biggest star of the game were the massive puddles that covered the Kentucky bluegrass at Soldier Field. What served as a wetland war turned into a celebration slip-n-slide as the Bears pulled off one of the upsets of the weekend.
While the weather was a huge factor in the outcome, that shouldn’t take away from the grit the Bears put on display in the second half. Overcoming a 10-0 lead to a team that was in the NFC Championship Game earlier this year is no small feat. Their veterans stepped up when needed. Eddie Jackson had a crucial interception late in the game, and Roquan Smith was a big factor in the middle, as well.
Above all, though, this game was living proof that Justin Fields is the Bears’ unquestioned leader. Whether it was the ridiculous video game-like throw to Dante Pettis across the field that resulted in a 51 yard touchdown, the montage of scrambles through the makeshift swamp, or the ability to overcome early mistakes, Fields made a statement against the 49ers- this is his team. I don’t know if the Bears will have the horses in 2022, but they certainly have the quarterback.
