Will the Niners send a sign of life despite the injury crisis?

There are probably few teams that are currently the subject of as much media coverage as the teams that will face off at Levi’s Stadium this Sunday evening. In Santa Clara, the San Francisco 49ers will host the Chicago Bears, and the odds in the markets show that the bookmakers favor the home team despite major injury concerns.

The trip to Highmark Stadium was a meltdown for the Niners in terms of performance and result. With running backs Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason out, the offense is now missing its most important backfield players until the end of the regular season. Even though the playoff chances still exist, everything points to the postseason taking place without the Californians. Nevertheless, between the 49ers and the Bears, a bet on the home side’s sixth win of the season is therefore not lucrative in the comparison of the various bookmakers.

In Chicago, the eighth defeat last week on Thanksgiving led to the dismissal of the head coach. Rumors of a job loss persisted, even though performances improved after the offensive coordinator was replaced. However, head coach Matt Eberflus’ time management in the final sequences against the Lions proved to be his undoing. As a result, Thomas Brown moves up a notch in the rankings.

The 38-year-old, who started the season as passing game coordinator and only became offensive coordinator a few weeks ago, is now acting head coach. Will he lead Chicago to their first win since October 13th? In the 49ers-Bears matchup, this prediction doesn’t seem unrealistic.

San Francisco 49ers – Statistics & current form

The game at the Buffalo Bills turned into a nightmare for the Niners. Although quarterback Brock Purdy was able to play again after his shoulder injury, there were other absences that made life difficult for him. With Aaron Banks and Trent Williams missing, two important players were missing from the offensive line, and defensively, the injury list was so long that we can’t go into each one. While the offense was able to make up for some of the absences, the loss of quality on defense was clearly noticeable.

Last time again without penetration

The offense made too many mistakes in the snow at Highmark Stadium, ultimately managing no more than ten points on the scoreboard. In the last two games, Kyle Shanahan’s team was outscored by the Packers and Bills, 20-73. Nevertheless, they moved the ball solidly on the ground, despite the early injury to CMC.

Running back number three, Isaac Guerendo, also felt comfortable in his role and scored his second NFL touchdown. Between the 49ers and Bears, our prediction is that the rookie will be the new number one in the backfield.

In the passing game, we still speak of a top-10 unit, but that has not been the case in the last three weeks. Against the Seahawks, Packers and Bills, he only managed an average of 151 passing yards. Besides wide receiver Juan Jennings and tight end George Kittle, there are simply no consistently reliable receivers. Rookie Ricky Pearsall, who had two targets and zero receptions in the last three weeks, is symbolic of this.

The defensive absences are especially noticeable in run defense, and that could also become a matchup factor in the upcoming game. Even though Chicago doesn’t have an outstanding run game, they do have a mobile quarterback. At least defensive end Nick Bosa could return. Linebacker Fred Warner, who recently made public that he has been playing with a broken ankle for weeks, will likely play again.

Key Players:

• QB: Brock Purdy
• RB: Isaac Guerendo
• WR: Juan Jennings
• TE: George Kittle
• K: Jake Moody

Chicago Bears – statistics & current form

The Bears were on the verge of beating their division rivals from Detroit on Thanksgiving, or at least sending the game into overtime. All they needed was a field goal, but since the coaching staff didn’t call a timeout, the clock ran out on quarterback Caleb Williams’ pass attempt to Robert Odunze. As described at the beginning, the faulty time management was the last straw for those in charge.

Offensive prognosis improved

The offense has recently made visible progress. The 23-year-old rookie quarterback finally showed exactly the skills that made him stand out in college. Although Chris Beatty is now the third offensive coordinator in his young NFL career, we do not believe that the unit will fall back into old patterns. In the two games with Brown as OC, Williams threw for five touchdown passes, while in the four games before that, he didn’t manage a single touchdown catch through the receiver. You can find attractive odds for this game on the Bet365 app if you back Williams to score again.

However, the offensive adjustments did not lead to a turnaround in results. This means that they have now lost six in a row! The team went into the bye week on matchday seven with a 4-2 win-loss record. Lately, it has always been the same playmakers who have caused danger. In addition to wide receivers Odunze, Keenen Allen and DJ Moore, there is also tight end Cole Kmet.

In the Rungame, D’Andre Swift does most of the work, but 2nd-year running back Roschon Johnson even scored a touchdown more than the 25-year-old Swift. Before placing a tip on one of the running backs in the 49ers vs. Bears match, however, the “Injury Report” should be checked, as both are currently listed there as “questionable”.

The division rivals from Minnesota and Detroit recently found out the hard way that the passing defense is one of the team’s strengths. Although the box score showed over 200 passing yards in each game, neither offense was able to move the ball consistently. We expect a similar scenario at Levi’s Stadium, which could make for a close game. So far, the defense has allowed exactly 20 points on average, which is 4.6 points less than the Niners defense in the direct comparison.

Key Players:

• QB: Caleb Williams
• RB: D’Andre Swift
• WR: DJ Moore
• TE: Cole Kmet
• K: Cairo Santos

San Francisco 49ers – Chicago Bears head-to-head / H2H record

This Sunday’s clash marks a small anniversary: it is the 70th direct matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears, and the odds distribution in the markets is a little more balanced than in the last few duels. We would basically subscribe to that, because we see the teams as similarly close due to the injuries at the hosts and the recent upward trend of the guests. A Chicago success with the help of the 3.5-point handicap would not shock us at all.

49ers – Bears Tip

We simply don’t trust the Bears’ injury-plagued defense and are therefore betting on the guests scoring at least 20 points. Over the course of the entire season, this group of players only allowed under 20 points twice – 19 against the Jets and 13 against the Patriots. We are placing five units. The positive trend of the Bears offense also fuels this recommendation.

This brings us back to the handicap tip for our second possible variant. With 3.5 extra points, the guests can definitely be trusted to win at “Levi’s Stadium”, because if the Bears score 20 points, the hosts need 24 to cover the handicap. The Shanahan team didn’t even score that many points after the bye week.