BOX SCORE

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Bears had some good things happen over the past eight days.

They beat the rival Green Bay Packers last Saturday at Soldier Field — and in dramatic fashion. Then the Detroit Lions lost on Christmas Day, securing a playoff spot for Chicago. Then the Packers fell to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night, securing the Bears’ first NFC North title since 2018.

That means these final two regular-season games are all about NFL playoff seeding.

The Bears had a chance to secure no worse than the NFC’s No. 2 spot with a win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium.

They weren’t able to do that.

The Bears’ comeback fell one play short (more on that later), and they lost to the 49ers 42-38 in a thrilling, back-and-forth affair that soon won’t be forgotten.

The Bears (11-5) were competitive against yet another top NFC opponent — the 49ers improved to 12-4 with the win — and it’s a sign that this Chicago team is capable of making a serious playoff push regardless of what seed it has, though its quest for the highest possible position in the playoff bracket now is over.

Here’s what we learned from a wild affair with tons of points scored:

Not perfect under pressure

The Bears and 49ers couldn’t stop scoring. Like, all game long.

It started with a T.J. Edwards pick six on the 49ers’ first offensive play of the game.

Then it was all offense. The 49ers took a lead. Then the Bears matched the score. On and on it went, deep into the fourth quarter, in an NFL first.

The 49ers’ offense has been on a tear lately, and some were curious if the Bears could hang around in a high-scoring game. The answer: an unqualified yes.

Chicago still found itself in an unenviable position, down four points with 2:15 and three timeouts left. The Bears have pulled off miracle comebacks many times before this season. Could they do it again?

The Bears took their final drive beyond midfield, needing a touchdown to set things right. Rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III had a huge third-down catch-and-run for 14 yards, and then another for 5 on the next play. He couldn’t secure a key third-down catch, though, bringing up a fourth-and-5 situation with 33 seconds left. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams hit rookie tight end Colston Loveland on a 13-yard pass for a first down.

Williams then hit Loveland, who pitched the ball to D’Andre Swift on a hook-and-lateral play that ended just short of the goal line, at the 49ers’ 2.

That left time for just one play, with four seconds on the clock after a Williams spike.

Williams was under pressure, and threw an awkward pass that fell just incomplete, making it the second time in four games — it also happened earlier this month in Green Bay — that a loss came on a red-zone pass that didn’t reach its destination.

Williams has a special arm

OK, so we didn’t necessarily learn this fact Sunday. After two unreal touchdown passes in consecutive weeks against the Cleveland Browns and the Packers, that was etched in stone.

Williams proved that point again against the 49ers, with two first-half TD passes that few could make. The first was a perfect drop in the bucket — a high volley that landed right in Burden’s hands for a 35-yard score. It was one of the rookie’s game-high eight catches for 138 yards.

Williams showed some magic on the next drive, using a free play — the 49ers were called offsides — to buy time and throw a 36-yard dart to Loveland in the end zone for another TD.

Williams, who completed 25 of 42 passes for 330 yards and the two TDs, tried to match 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, who also was on a tear and went 24-of-33 passing for 303 yards and three TDs. That kept the game a true back-and-forth, with both offenses after another delivering haymakers.

Run defense must get right

Christian McCaffrey is a special player. And 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan ranks among the best run-play designers of his generation. But the volume of explosive plays given up by the Bears’ defense in this game just can’t happen in the playoffs.

McCaffrey had 140 rushing yards — way too many even for someone of his caliber. Purdy, who entered with one TD in seven games, ran for two.

The Bears will face other good running backs and offensive lines in the playoffs — possibly even these same 49ers at some point. If this was a one-off, we’d call it an aberration. But they gave up 192 rushing yards to the Packers last week and 186 to the Pittsburgh Steelers back in Week 12.

The Bears must find a way to consistently slow down runners if they’re to be viable contenders for a deep playoff run.

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