Upset gives Bears a boost
Thanks to 49ers, team will clinch playoff spot with wins in last 2 games
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The 49ers limped into Saturday’s game with no more playoff hopes and a group that included third- string quarterback C. J. Beathard, unheralded running back Jeff Wilson and several defensive backups.
Then they went out and pushed around the Cardinals anyway.
Beathard threw three touchdown passes, Wilson ran for 183 yards and the 49ers dealt a brutal blow to the Cardinals’ playoff hopes by beating them 20- 12.
For the 49ers, the win was all about pride for a team that went to the Super Bowl last season but has fallen short of expectations.
But they did a huge favor for the Bears, giving them control of their playoff push. If the Bears win Sunday in Jacksonville, Florida, and at home in Week 17 against the rival Packers, they’ll make the postseason.
The Bears ( 7- 7) entered Saturday needing the Cardinals ( 8- 7) to lose at least once the rest of the way — to the 49ers or the Rams next week — to control their own destiny.
“We just play and we want to do everything we can to win every single game,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said Friday. “And then the other stuff, we have no control. We know right now in our situation that we don’t control the way of getting into the playoffs. We need help. There’s nothing we can do about that.”
Thanks to the Cardinals’ loss, the Bears don’t need any more help. They’re a half- game out of the final playoff spot, a gap they could close with a win. They hold the tiebreaker against the Cardinals, meaning that, presuming they beat the Jaguars, they’d reach the postseason either with a Week 17 win against the Packers or a Cardinals loss to the Rams.
Niners coach Kyle Shanahan wasn’t surprised by his team’s gritty performance.
“We’re not proud of our record, we’d like to be better, but that doesn’t tell the story of who we are,” he said.
Beathard made his first start since 2018 and was 1- 9 as a starting quarterback before he was pressed into action against the Cardinals because of injuries to Jimmy Garoppolo and Nick Mullens.
He wasn’t amazing but avoided big mistakes. Beathard completed 13 of 22 passes for 182 yards, Wilson earned hard yards on the ground and the 49ers ( 6- 9) came up with two big defensive stops late in the fourth quarter, including Ahkello Witherspoon’s interception of Kyler Murray in the end zone.
The biggest immediate concern for the Cardinals is Murray’s health. He was hit by Alex Barrett after making a pass in the closing seconds. The fourth- down throw fell incomplete, and Murray rolled over in pain.
Trainers attended to him before he limped off the field after a couple of minutes. Coach Kliff Kingsbury didn’t have an update after the game, and Murray didn’t talk to reporters.
Murray went 31- for- 50 for 247 yards and ran eight times for 75 yards. He also threw a crucial interception in the end zone with 4: 39 left when the Cardinals were trying to rally for the game- tying touchdown and twopoint conversion.