Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo starred with two touchdowns as the San Francisco 49ers beat the short-handed Chicago Bears 33-22 on Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak.
Although rookie quarterback Justin Fields gave the Bears a much-needed boast in the struggling offence early on in the match with an incredible touchdown pass, Garoppolo’s exploits were too hot to handle for the Chicago side. He threw for 322 yards and led three touchdown drives in the second half and another possession that ended with a field goal. He scored from the 2 in the third quarter and ran it in from the 5 in the fourth to make it 30-22.
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Fields threw for 175 yards and a touchdown. The rookie also ran for 103 yards and a score, becoming the first Bears QB to rush for 100 yards in a game since Bobby Douglass in 1973.
Meanwhile, Deebo Samuel had six catches for 171 yards. That gave him 819 through seven games, breaking Hall of Famer Jerry Rice’s club record of 781 set in 1986.
San Francisco (3-4) won for the first time since upsetting both Detroit and Philadelphia on the road to start the season. Elijah Mitchell rushed 18 times for 137 yards and a score.
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Following back-to-back defeats to Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay and Tom Brady and Tampa Bay, Chicago (3-5) was searching for a break. However, the Bears struggled in the second half against Garoppolo, who hails from Arlington Heights and attended Eastern Illinois University.
Cairo Santos hit three field goals to extend his club’s regular-season conversion streak to 38. However, following Fields’ explosive 22-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, he missed an extra point.
After driving to the 5-yard line on the first play of the second half, Chicago settled for a field goal by Santos, increasing its lead to 16-9.
With inputs from the Associated Press