Howard scores 3 TDs, Bears hand 49ers 11th loss in row 26

“It was kind of fun”, he said.

“I do think there is significance of being here today, seeing as it’s the anniversary of the assassination of chariman Fred Hampton”, he said. And against the struggling 49ers, that group was nothing short of dominant.

“I thought we needed a spark on offense”, the coach said.

Temperature flux – The 49ers’ week-long sojourn in Orlando, Fla., may have shaved miles off their itinerary, but it didn’t exactly prepare the team for the conditions in Chicago.

STINGY DEFENSE: Despite a long line of injuries and inconsistent play, the Bears’ defense has ranked among the top half in the National Football League all season. “Maybe I was too cautious but it didn’t look like we were doing much in the passing game”. The Bears would go on to sack the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback five times.

The temperature at kickoff Sunday was 33 degrees, more than 50 degrees cooler than it was in Orlando during the run-up to the game. He declared it “kinda annoying, just like rain, basically”, after running a career-high 32 times for 117 yards. He also ran for 20 yards on six attempts before Gabbert replaced him in the fourth quarter. It may be hard to see in the midst of 3-9 season, but it was present Sunday under the falling snow at Soldier Field. Kaepernick was pulled in the fourth quarter for Blaine Gabbert, who completed his first throw for an 18-yard gain to Jeremy Kerley. A 49ers pass interference penalty in the end zone set up Howard’s 1-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds remaining.

The defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage. “You want him to make bad decisions or throw the ball in the ground”. “We’re professionals. Rain, sleet, sun, cloudy weather, freezing cold, 90 degrees – that has no effect on how we approach and how we get ready to play a football game”.

Fangio, the Bears defensive coordinator who knows Kaepernick’s game inside and out from his time in San Francisco, took a more aggressive approach than usual. But that’s an unnecessarily detailed breakdown. The team had little trouble with the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, but it has been downhill ever since as the team continues to grow their franchise-record losing streak.

And prior to Sunday, Kaepernick showed marked improvement in each of his six starts, including a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 8:2, plus 223 rushing yards, over the previous four games. “I didn’t focus on that one all the way in”, Bellamy said. After a win, though, it was easier to shrug off. To put that number in perspective, Willie Young is the only other Bear to reach 10 sacks in the last four seasons (2014).

Chicago will be facing the Detroit Lions on the road in Week 14. And that got me thinking of what fans are taking from the final stretch of 49ers games, and whether or not it’s really worth watching this dreck.