Instant Reactions: 49ers 'out-violent' Bears in Thomas Brown's interim debut

So, Thomas Brown might not be the guy.

Brown’s comments during his first week as interim head coach of the Bears brought a sense that Chicago would adopt an identity built on violence.

Instead, San Francisco punched Chicago in the mouth early and often. Without Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason, Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. out-manned the Bears’ defense in the first performance without Matt Eberflus since the ex-head coach’s firing last Friday.

The 49ers totaled 131 yards on the ground and Brock Purdy added 325 through the air. George Kittle feasted in the middle of the field repeatedly, racking up 151 yards on six catches.

For the Bears’ offense, Caleb Williams finished 17/22 for 134 yards with two touchdowns, both to Rome Odunze, capping off a seventh straight performance without an interception.

Just not enough, and after a locker room mutiny in Detroit on Thanksgiving, the Bears fell flat when given the opportunity to prove that Eberflus’ presence was the biggest thing holding this team back.

4-9 and on the brink of elimination from playoff contention.

Adam Hoge

Believe it or not, I found this to be one of the more shocking results of this dreadful Bears season. Not that they lost — but that they barely showed up. With all the positive talk about Thomas Brown, it didn’t seem like too much of a leap to expect the Bears to show up and play “violent” as Brown preached. Most teams benefit from the “new-coach bump.” I should’ve known better that the Bears wouldn’t.

Nicholas Moreano

The Bears showed no fight in their blowout loss the 49ers. Interim head coach Thomas Brown talked about violence and physicality leading up to the game, but neither were present in the 38-13 loss. Was it more discouraging that Caleb Williams was sacked seven times or that the defense gave up six scoring drives? Both are bad and that is the reality of the 2024 Chicago Bears.

Mark Carman

The Bears should not have taken the trip. Started slow and never gained much speed. Real questions need to be asked about who has the qualities that you want in the Bears locker room moving forward. Team was checked out and showed little fight. On to Monday night in Minnesota. Will they show up? Thomas Brown has a lot of work to do.

Patrick Norton

We haven’t seen a head coach preach getting on top of loose balls regardless of whether the whistle is blowing or not since Lovie Smith was fired in 2012. Caleb Williams’ backward pass fumble wasn’t why the Bears lost to a much better-coached 49ers team, but it’s still annoying. It’s good practice and proper fundamentals. I still have nightmares about the Packers game in 2013. I didn’t pick the Bears to win on Sunday, but I didn’t expect a 25-point shellacking either.

Greg Braggs Jr.

This was one day where you couldn’t lay an absolute egg if you were the players. The Bears haven’t shown up all year in the 1st half but today was a season worst. There has been FAR too much talking going on this season during each game week and not enough focus on the details to be ready for game day. Today was a perfect example of that. You had 10 days to prepare for this game but instead were more focused on what’s behind you than what’s in front of you. Thomas Brown in his first game as interim head coach just got hit by a train. I honestly feel bad for him. Not a great start to his 5 game audition to be in the running to be the head coach in 2025. The fact of the matter is that this organization has much bigger problems than what you see on Sundays every week.

Which is saying A LOT!

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