The Sun-Times’ experts offer their picks for the Bears’ game Sunday at the 49ers (3;25 p.m., Fox 32 ):
Rick Morrissey
49ers, 24-21: I was tempted to pick the Bears to end their six-game losing streak. Thomas Brown making his head-coaching debut. A re-energized team. A banged-up opponent. Some positives. But then I thought: Snap out of it! It’s the Bears. Season: 9-3.
Rick Telander
Bears, 20-18: The Bears lost three winnable games and, with luck, could have beaten the Colts or Texans. Had they done that they’d be 8-4, not 4-8. Sad thing is, they’d still be in last place in the NFC North. Season: 7-5.
Scoop Jackson
Bears, 20-13: Christian McCaffrey, Jordan Mason, Nick Bosa, Trent Williams. Four of the most important players on the Niners roster not named Brock Purdy are hurt. Calling this “fortunate” is the Understatement of The Year. Season: 7-5.
Patrick Finley
49ers, 21-20: The Bears haven’t beaten a single team this season that has a current winning record, and the 49ers have beaten just one. Both teams could — rightly — view Sunday as their last real chance to win this year. Season: 10-2.
Jason Lieser
49ers, 27-25: If you had blindly bet against the Bears (straight-up) for the last 65 games, you would have won at a 70% clip. They’re energized and due for a win, but it’s hard to trust them. Season: 8-4.
Mark Potash
Bears, 24-20: The Bears, whose frustration with Matt Eberflus boiled over after the loss to the Lions, are primed for a fire-the-coach bump after Eberflus was replaced by Brown. And the 49ers are banged up. Season: 8-4.
Eric Washington has been the Bears’ defensive coordinator all season long but was promoted to play-caller on Friday when the team fired head coach Matt Eberflus.
BET ON IT: At Circa Sports, believe it or not, Eberflus had been the +950 preseason favorite to win Associated Press coach-of-the-year honors, followed by Mike Macdonald (Seahawks, 10-1) and Jim Harbaugh (Chargers, 11-1).
He’s one of the few things that looks right with this team. And if the Bears were going to get only one thing right, there’s nothing more important than quarterback.