Bears’ heartbreaking loss to 49ers costs them chance at top seed in NFC playoffs

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The game couldn’t have started much better for the Chicago Bears after getting a pick-6 on the first play.

The ending couldn’t have been much more crushing with a potential game-winning pass from the 2-yard line falling short as the Bears couldn’t complete a record seventh late-game comeback.

Caleb Williams missed on a last-ditch pass to Jahdae Walker in the end zone Sunday night, sending the Bears to a 42-38 loss to the San Francisco 49ers that cost them a chance to earn the top seed in the NFC playoffs.

“It’s frustrating,” Williams said. “You don’t want to lose a game ever. And then also, in that position, having a shot at the end is all you can ask for on this moment. But we’ve got to do better job overall.”

Williams and the Bears (11-5) had been at their best in those types of late-game situations with an NFL record six wins when trailing in the final two minutes of regulation, including a comeback win last week against the Green Bay Packers.

Williams moved Chicago 63 yards in 2:11, converting a fourth-and-5 and then getting the ball to the 2 with a hook-and-ladder pass to Colston Loveland, who lateraled to D’Andre Swift.

After a spike to stop the clock, the Bears struggled to line up properly on the final play. Williams was then flushed out of the pocket by Bryce Huff and his throw to the end zone short-hopped Walker.

“We just had to try to make something out of nothing in that situation and then, like I said, we had a shot,” Williams said. “With all that going on, time winding down, we had a shot. I just have to give my guys a shot in that situation. I ended up dirting the ball, didn’t get my legs into it. Just put the ball in the end zone in that situation. I can’t dirt the ball.”

The loss ends the Bears’ hopes of earning the top seed and a first-round bye. Chicago has already clinched the NFC North and can earn the No. 2 seed by beating Detroit next Sunday or if Philadelphia loses to Washington.

Williams threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns, Swift ran for two scores, rookies Luther Burden and Loveland combined for 14 catches for 232 yards and two touchdowns and T.J. Edwards scored on a 34-yard pick-6 on the first play from scrimmage.

But the defense struggled to get any stops, allowing Brock Purdy and the 49ers to score six touchdowns in the third game this season that Chicago has allowed at least 42 points.

For a franchise built on a history of stout defenses and inconsistent offenses, the manner in which the Bears lost was especially stunning. They became the second team in the Super Bowl era to lose a game in the regular season or playoffs when they scored at least 35 points, got a defensive touchdown and didn’t turn the ball over.

Teams had been 286-1 in that scenario with the only other team to lose being Denver in a 41-36 loss to the St. Louis Rams in the 2000 season opener.

“When you go against a dynamic offense like that, you talk about the possibilities as an offense of going tit-for-tat with them, and at times we may answer that call,” coach Ben Johnson said. “They just ended up making more plays than us.”

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