The Chicago Bears are heading out to the West Coast for a marquee playoff appetizer against the San Francisco 49ers. Two of the NFC’s best will play each other in front of a national audience Sunday night at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Chicago is riding high coming into California. The team earned its first playoff berth since 2020 last weekend after it came back to beat the Green Bay Packers in stunning fashion, and the Detroit Lions lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was an important first step for Bears head coach Ben Johnson in his first season.

Now the Bears (11-4) will focus on their remaining two steps in the final two weeks of the regular season. They’ll try to win the NFC North and earn the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

It’ll be a tough test to do it against the 49ers (11-4). San Francisco overcame numerous significant injuries to key players, including quarterback Brock Purdy, to be in a position for the top seed in the NFC. Sunday should be a good barometer for Chicago a couple of weeks before the playoffs.

Sunday night’s game kicks off at 7:20 p.m. on NBC. Here are the top five storylines to watch.

Limiting Christian McCaffrey

Despite battling injuries throughout its roster, San Francisco star running back Christian McCaffrey has stayed healthy and is having one of the most-productive seasons of his All-Pro career.

It’s been one of the lone bright spots injury-wise for the 49ers this year. McCaffrey has played in all of San Francisco’s games this season after only playing in four last year because of numerous injuries.

McCaffrey had looked like his old self and led the battered 49ers offense. He’s rushed for 922 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 3.6 yards per carry. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has also used him as a pass-catching threat. McCaffrey has 820 receiving yards with five touchdowns.

The Bears will need to find a solution to slow down McCaffrey. Chicago allowed Green Bay to move down the field relatively easily last week by letting backup Malik Willis and others to make plays. That won’t work against McCaffrey.

“When you talk about Christian McCaffrey, been one of the best running backs in this league, running the ball,” Bears safety Kevin Byard said, “and obviously I think he’s more dangerous out of the backfield being a receiver.”

Slowing down a hot 49ers offense

Stopping McCaffrey will only be part of the equation. There are a lot of different parts to account for when going against San Francisco’s offense.

The 49ers have been on a tear since Purdy returned from a toe injury. They’ve scored an average of 34.4 points during their current five-game winning streak. San Francisco also hasn’t punted over the past two games, scoring on 14 of 18 possessions.

Purdy has played well and is coming off his best game of the season after he threw for 295 yards and five touchdowns Monday against the Indianapolis Colts. McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle, who will be a game-time decision for Sunday, have been the focus of the 49ers’ offense. But wide receivers Jauan Jennings and Kendrick Bourne have stepped in well for Brandon Aiyuk, who’s been injured all season.

Chicago’s defense will need to come up with some solutions to slow down San Francisco. The Bears allowed the Packers to throw for 250 yards without much of a pass rush. If they don’t have the same red zone success again, Sunday could get out of hand quickly.

“I think they do a great job of understanding the defense, they do a really good job of identifying the rules of the defense and how defenses are going to adjust, and then trying to attack in those ways,” defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “And so [Shanahan] always been really tough and a challenge to have to deal with.”

Kyle Shanahan versus Ben Johnson

Sunday’s matchup will pit a couple of the NFL’s best offensive young minds against each other in front of a national audience.

Shanahan has set the standard of modern offensive play-calling since he took over as head coach of the 49ers in 2017. During that time, Shanahan has built a creative run-first scheme that’s turned into pass-first over the years that’s revolutionized the NFL. San Francisco will reach the playoffs in five of his seasons as head coach, including two trips to the Super Bowl.

Johnson himself became one of the top young offensive minds with what he accomplished during his time as offensive coordinator of the Lions and now in his first season with the Bears. Like Shanahan, Johnson has used shifts, motion and play-action to confuse defenses.

Johnson showed appreciation for what Shanahan does each week. Even when the Bears don’t play the 49ers, Johnson checks in on the San Francisco offense to see what innovative plays they run.

“Each year this Shanahan offense looks a little bit different,” Johnson said. “It’s got some different wrinkles. As defenses change, he’s been changing as well, and I think that’s enabled him to stay on the forefront of some of these concepts. And so I think he does a great job, as good of a job as anybody in the NFL of putting his guys in a great spot to be successful.”

Can Caleb Williams and the offense keep up?

If the defense can’t slow down Purdy and the offense, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will need to keep up in an offensive showdown.

Chicago had shown mixed results in those types of situations. The Bears offense kept up in games where they needed to against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. But it’s also struggled at times, including against the Packers twice over the past three weeks.

The 49ers have given up their fair share of points at times. They allowed rookie quarterback Cam Ward and the Tennessee Titans to score 24 points two weeks ago, while quarterback Phillip Rivers and the Colts scored 27 Monday.

It will be a tough test going against 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh’s defense, where the defenders swarm to the ball on every play. Saleh runs a wide nine where players are running off the ball and makes it difficult to simulate in practice.

“It used to be you could just count on it being Cover-3,” Johnson said. “It’s not the case anymore. He does a good job mixing in man, the shell coverages and has a little bit more front variety than maybe he’s had in the past. It makes it very, very difficult.”

Getting off to a quick start

If the Bears’ offense does find itself in a shootout with the 49ers, it can’t have another one of its slow starts.

Chicago has struggled at times to start on the right foot offensively. The Bears have put themselves into holes against worse teams throughout the season and found different ways to get out of them. But it hasn’t always worked against playoff teams. They most recently started slow against the Packers twice over the past three weeks and got split results in their comeback efforts.

“When you talk about Christian McCaffrey, been one of the best running backs in this league, running the ball and obviously I think he’s more dangerous out of the backfield being a receiver.”

—  Kevin Byard, Chicago Bears safety

The Bears have proven they can get off to good starts. They did so earlier in the month against the Cleveland Browns in their Week-14 blowout win. Chicago will need to do that again because overcoming an early two-score deficit might be a tough task going against San Francisco.

“You’re always trying to find ways to start faster and things like that,” Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. “But I was really proud of the way our guys battled and they really have done that all season long. As we get into these tight games, they just feel really confident in their ability to execute.”