From Fox Sports:
KICKOFF: Thursday, 8:20. p.m ET
SURFACE: Grass
TV: NFL Network (Bob Papa, Matt Millen)
SERIES: 58th meeting. Bears lead 29-27-1 in the regular season. They’ve won the past three meetings and four of the last five, although all of the victories were at Soldier Field. The Niners have won all three postseason meetings.
KEYS TO THE GAME: Both teams entered the season with run-first offenses. Due to poor run blocking, Bears QB Jay Cutler has had to shoulder too much of the offensive load. That won’t change this weekend with the 49ers far stronger defending the run (93.2 yards per game) with LB Patrick Willis leading the way than the pass (241) minus injured CB Nate Clements and spotty safety play. San Francisco is having its own offensive line issues, and the switch to QB Alex Smith and arrival of WR Michael Crabtree has transformed the offense into a far more vertical attack. Smith has proven to still be turnover prone and with the Bears allowing 4.2 yards per carry, 49ers offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye needs to put more emphasis on RB Frank Gore.
FAST FACTS: Lovie Smith has lost his last seven starts. … This is the first time since 1994 the Bears have allowed 40 or more points twice in the same season.
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A few of the AdultFYI football members were caught sleeping at the wheel for this one, but have until 5:20 PT to submit their picks for this game.
Here’s how the rest of the crew see it:
49ers: Gene Ross, Sunset Thomas, 0 & 16 Chuck, Karl The Birdman, Scott David, Steve Seidman, John Gray, Jeff Mullen, John from Adult Source Media
Bears: Billy the Crystal, Steve Volponi, Mike Dickinson From Free Speech Revolution, Sean from PornLegends, Ryan from Jerry’s Deli, Dr. TJ Eckleburg, Brian Wallace and Danny from Foxxx Modeling