The newly crowned NFC North champion Bears played the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and played another thriller, losing this time 42-38. Here are three moments that mattered. What worked? What didn’t work?

Three moments that mattered

1. No seventh heaven: The Bears’ attempt at a seventh fourth-quarter comeback this season fell short on a hurried Caleb Williams throw that fell just short on the final play of the game. Williams engineered a Bears drive that started at their own 35 with 2:15 left. They advanced to the Niners 2 with four seconds left and spiked the ball to stop the clock. Williams then rolled to his left, scrambled and, while pressured, threw into the end zone. The ball one-hopped intended receiver Jahdae Walker and fell incomplete as time expired.

2. Purdy good: When Niners QB Brock Purdy juked Bears DE Montez Sweat on a read-option play from 3 yards out to put the 49ers up 28-21 with 3:23 left before halftime. It was the second time in the half that he used to his legs to give his team the lead. His 10-yard scramble into the end zone with 4:52 to go in the first quarter snapped a 7-7 tie. The scoring was just getting started.

3. One play, one takeaway: Showing off moves he once flashed as quarterback for Lakes Community High School in suburban Lake Villa, LB T.J. Edwards returned a Purdy pass tipped by CB Jaylon Johnson 34 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first snap. The pick six was the first career TD for Edwards, who’s in his seventh NFL season, and the Bears’ league-leading 22nd interception.

Three things that worked

1. Williams-to-Burden connection: Williams had maybe his best game of the season, and rookie WR Luther Burden III, who returned after missing the Packers game with an ankle injury, definitely did. Williams hit Burden for a 35-yard TD strike for the Bears’ first offensive score, and the two players were in sync all night. Williams finished 25 of 42 for a season-high 330 yards, while Burden caught eight passes on nine targets for 138 yards (all season highs).

2. Austin Booker: The 2024 fifth-round pick has been the Bears’ most noticeable defensive lineman the past two games, and not just because he concussed Packers QB Jordan Love with a helmet-to-helmet hit the previous game, which negated a sack for Booker. Against the Niners, Booker knocked down two passes and also sacked Purdy for seven yards in the first half. Booker got his hand on Purdy’s arm on a fourth-quarter pass, causing an incompletion on third down.

3. Deep-ball accuracy: Building off his heroic OT throw to WR D.J. Moore to beat the Packers at Soldier Field, Williams looked confident on first-half TD throws to Burden (35 yards) and TE Colston Loveland (36). Both throws were fastball strikes. Williams’ second half included a 19-yard strike to undrafted rookie Walker on third-and-14 to the Niners 27.

Three things that didn’t

1. All 22: The Bears defense couldn’t get off the field in the first half against coach Kyle Shanahan’s always efficient offense, allowing a staggering 22 first downs in addition to 28 points. Niners RB Christian McCaffrey rushed 18 times for 121 yards, including a 41-yard burst for his longest run of the season, and a TD in the first half. The Bears did force the Niners to punt in the first and fourth quarters. Before Sunday night, the last time the Niners punted was in November. The Niners finished with 32 first downs.

2. Bend-AND-break defense: The Niners offense went up and down the field all night. Purdy’s elusiveness, McCaffrey’s shiftiness and relentlessness, and Shanahan’s play-calling kept the ball away from the Bears offense. The Niners possessed the ball 33 minutes and 33 seconds, compared the Bears’ 26:27 time of possession.

3. Key, late-game possessions: With the score tied 35-all, the Bears offense stalled after Williams’ 2-yard pass to Loveland moved the ball to the Niners 8. They settled for Cairo Santos’ 29-yard field goal with 6:01 left in the fourth quarter. The Bears defense then, again, couldn’t stop the Niners from marching down the field. Purdy’s 38-yard TD pass to Jauan Jennings capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive that took only three minutes and seven seconds for the go-ahead score with 2:15 left.

What’s next?

The playoff-bound Bears wrap up the regular season Sunday against the Detroit Lions at 3:25 p.m. at Soldier Field. The Bears will be looking to avenge a 52-21 loss in Week 2.