Chicago Bears: Won’t be surprising if team loses to 49ers

The Chicago Bears are a wildly inconsistent team, so it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if they lost to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13.

The Chicago Bears, losers of four games in a row, take on the 1-10 San Francisco 49ers in Week 13. On paper, the Bears seem to have the edge. But, come on now…these are the Bears we’re talking about. Would it really be surprising if they lost to the 49ers? Probably not.

Jimmy Garoppolo, as we all know, will make his first start for the 49ers this week, which definitively adds some intrigue to this matchup. At the same time, it also increases the likelihood that the Bears could slip up and lose this game. It would be a great storyline, wouldn’t it? Garoppolo, who grew up in Illinois, returns “home” to beat the Bears in first 49er start. If that happens, pandemonium would likely set in at Soldier Field and around the city.

There’s suddenly an interesting “rivalry” between the Bears and the 49ers, mostly stemming from the idea that the 49ers fleeced the Bears with the draft day trade up for Mitchell Trubisky. But Garoppolo was also a potential target for the Bears earlier this year, and you know that Robbie Gould would love to stick it to his former team.

If the Bears end up getting beat on Sunday, it likely would be because the defense makes Garoppolo look like the second-coming of Tom Brady. The Bears should be able to run all over the 49ers defense and put up some points, so it comes down to the Bears defense making things difficult for Garoppolo. Injuries have ravaged the defense, though, so the once promising defense has become a shell of what it could be.

The Bears probably see the 49ers’ 1-10 record and think to themselves, “Well, that’s a team we can beat.” But you know what? The 49ers are probably saying the same thing about the Bears. Let’s be honest—both teams are bad. On Sunday, it’ll come down to which team is less worse.

Next: NFL 2017: 20 Bold predictions for Week 13

The Bears have beaten the Steelers, Ravens, and Panthers this season, all of which are current playoff teams. The Bears have also lost to the 4-7 Buccaneers and the Brett Hundley-led Packers. So again, I ask you: would it really be surprising if they lost to the 49ers on Sunday? Nope. Would it be surprising if they actually did what they are supposed to do? Yep. It’s extremely frustrating because the only thing the Bears do consistently is being inconsistent.