Bear Digest

Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers: TV, Radio and Betting Trends

How to watch Sunday's Bears and 49ers game with betting lines and trends and radio information as Caleb Williams and Co. try to win Thomas Brown's debut as interim head coach.

Gene Chamberlain

George Kittle goes skyward trying for a TD catch against the Bears but can't come down in-bounds.
George Kittle goes skyward trying for a TD catch against the Bears but can't come down in-bounds. / Mike DiNovo-Imagn Images

 Chicago Bears (4-8) at San Francisco 49ers (5-7)

Kickoff: 3:25 p.m. Sunday

Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Ca.

TV:  Fox (Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, Megan Olivi)

Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)

National Radio: ESPN (Jorge Sedano, Kelly Stouffer, Courtney Cronin)

Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

The Line: 49ers by 3 1/2, over/under 44 ½ (Fan Duel)

The Series: The 70th game between the teams. The 49ers lead 35-33-1. San Francisco is 22-14 at home in the series. The Bears won the last game in the series, 19-10 in Chicago in 2022 and the last game in San Francisco, 14-9 in 2018.

The Coaches: Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown makes his NFL coaching debut after the firing last week of Matt Eberflus. Brown has been an NFL offensive coordinator with Carolina last year and with the Bears for three weeks prior being named interim head coach. He was Bears passing game coordinator this season prior to being named offensive coordinator.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has a 77-62 record in his eighth season. He is 69-57 in the regular season and 2-2 against the Bears overall. He has a 34-29 record in home games.

Last Week: The Bears’ bid for an upset on Thanksgiving in Detroit ended in a comedy of errors as time ran out on them with a timeout in their pocket at the Lions 41. The result was Matt Eberflus’ firing and Brown’s insertion as interim head coach. The upset bid was a comeback in the second half after they trailed 16-0 at halftime and had been outgained 279 yards to 53.  Williams completed 15 of 24 for 189 yards and touchdowns of 31 and 9 yards to Keenan Allen and 31 yards to DJ Moore. The Bears had the ball in field goal range to force overtime but a sack of Williams pushed it back, combined with an illegal-hands-to-the-face penalty on Teven Jenkins.

The 49ers were crushed in the snow at Buffalo 35-10 to fall into last place in the NFC West. QB Brock Purdy was held to 94 yards passing, running back Christian McCaffrey suffered a regular season-ending knee injury and the 49ers turned the ball over three times in their third straight loss.

BEARS ADD FAMILIAR FACE FROM TRAINING CAMP TO PRACTICE SQUAD

POWER RANKINGS SAY BEARS CAN BENEFIT FROM CHANGE

THE HAND THOMAS BROWN MUST PLAY IN HIS DEBUT

THE CONCERN OVER CALEB WILLIAMS WITH THOMAS BROWN AS INTERIM COACH

The Matchup:  The Bears try to end their six-game losing streak with a surging passing game that includes Williams’ 99.2 passer rating and five TDs to no interceptions in the last three games, all against NFC North opponents in playoff positions.  Keenan Allen has 18 catches and three TDs and DJ Moore 22 receptions and two TDs in that stretch of games.  It’s the Bears’ top-ranked red zone defense but a 25th-ranked run defense trying to hold off San Francisco’s seventh-ranked rushing attack. Even with the loss of McCaffrey, the 49ers have Jordan Mason (789 yards) and Isaac Guerendo spearheading the ground game and George Kittle, Jauan Jennings and Deebo Samuel as passing game targets but the loss of numerous other players due to injuries has led to a fall from elite status. WR Brandon Aiyuk, edge Nick Bosa and T Trent Williams have been among the injured players.

Of Note: The game matches up the two teams first (49ers 33) and second (Bears 31) in interceptions over the last two seasons. Buffalo also has 31 interceptions. ... Williams has set Bears rookie records for completions (253), passing yards (2,612) and passing TDs (14).His streak of consecutive games without throwing an interceptions is at 232.… Williams’ 6.24 yards per rush is second best in the NFL among quarterbacks this season, trailing only Kyler Murray (7.78). … TE Cole Kmet is fourth in TD catches (16) over the last two seasons. Kittle leads with 25. He needs 74 receiving yards to move past Desmond Clark into third all time among Bears tight ends. … Allen has moved 27 catches ahead of Davante Adams for third among all active players in receptions (948). … The 49ers lead the NFL in net yards on offense over the last five seasons (35,864). … Brock Purdy has the highest passer rating (112.6) of any QB in their first 25 NFL starts and highest completion percentage (69.1) for the first 25 starts in 49ers history.

Next Week: The Bears are at Minnesota for Monday Night Football on Dec. 16. ... The 49ers host the Rams on Thursday Night Football Dec. 12.

Bears and 49ers Betting Trends

  • It's been under the total in five of the last six Bears games
  • It's been under the total in five of the last six Bears road games
  • The Bears are 2-8 against the spread in in their last 10 road games
  • The Bears are 4-1 ATS against their last five NFC West opponents
  • The 49ers covered against the spread in 13 of the last 20 games against the Bears
  • San Francisco is 4-8 ATS this season
  • The Bears are 6-4-2 ATS this season

-Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

-If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.