Two teams with aspirations of claiming the NFC’s top seed battle Sunday night when the Chicago Bears take on the San Francisco 49ers at Santa Clara, Calif.
Both teams have 11-4 records but the NFC North-leading Bears are currently in the No. 2 position while the 49ers are at No. 5.
Chicago clinched a playoff spot with last Saturday’s 22-16 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers. The Bears could clinch the division crown if the Packers lose to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday. If Green Bay wins, Chicago can clinch by beating San Francisco.
“My goal isn’t just to get to the playoffs — my goal is to win and win big,” Bears breakout second-year quarterback Caleb Williams said.
Chicago also craves the No. 1 seed, currently held by the Seattle Seahawks (12-3).
“Our step No. 1 was to get to 11 (wins),” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “There’s never been an 11-win team to not make it, and so we felt pretty good about that being the number going into the season. That was step one. Step two is we want to win this division. We want to have at least one home playoff game. And then step three would be clinch a No. 1 seed.
“So there are a lot of things still out there to play for. Our guys know that.”
The 49ers clinched a playoff spot last Sunday, one day before whipping the Indianapolis Colts 48-27.
San Francisco has won five straight games and fancies a run at the No. 1 seed. The Super Bowl will be played in its home stadium in Santa Clara this season.
The 49ers are part of a power-packed NFC West that has three teams with 11 or more wins, counting the current No. 6 seed Los Angeles Rams.
“We have to now focus on trying to be the best team we can be and see what happens,” San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Now it’s time to position ourselves. These guys earned the right to be in the playoffs.”
Brock Purdy passed for a career-high five touchdown passes in a superb performance against the Colts. Purdy is the first San Francisco quarterback to throw at least five TDs in a game since Hall of Famer Steve Young tossed a Super Bowl-record six during a rout of the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX (1994 season).
Shanahan was highly impressed with the performance. Purdy’s opinion was more mixed.
“There are still things that I have to clean up and I just want to get better at,” Purdy said. “You don’t want it to come up in another game and another situation, so (there’s) definitely room for improvement.”
Star tight end George Kittle sprained his left ankle in the game against the Colts and sat out Wednesday’s practice. It remains possible he could play against the Bears.
“He’s got a chance,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “We’re not ruling him out.”
Defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (knee) was the only other San Francisco player who sat out due to injury or illness.
Meanwhile, Williams has thrown 10 touchdown passes over the past five games and has 23 for the season against six interceptions. He has passed for 3,400 yards and his progress is a big reason why Chicago has won 11 of its last 13 games.
Last Sunday, Williams tossed a game-winning 46-yard scoring pass to DJ Moore in OT. The Bears trailed by 10 late in the fourth quarter before mounting the rally.
“You want to be a clutch team,” Johnson said. “You want to be able to handle the pressure and rise to the occasion. We’ve got a team built like that.”
Five Bears missed Wednesday’s practice due to injury or illness. Receiver Rome Odunze (foot) is improving but expected to miss his fourth consecutive game.
Also sitting out were linebackers T.J. Edwards (glute) and D’Marco Jackson (illness), defensive back Nick McCloud (illness) and return specialist Devin Duvernay (illness).
San Francisco routed the Bears 38-13 last season and piled up seven sacks of Williams.
