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Bears look for 1st win tonight in San Francisco

NFL Preview - Chicago (0-1) at San Francisco (1-0) ***
------------------------------------------------------------

It may be a new stadium, but the San Francisco 49ers are
hoping the results don't change against the Chicago Bears.

The Niners will play their first regular-season game at Levi's Stadium on
tonight hoping to avoid their first home loss to the Bears in nearly 29
years.

San Francisco leads its all-time series with Chicago 32-29-1 including
playoffs and has won each of its past eight home games versus the Bears.

Chicago has not picked up a victory in San Francisco since Oct. 13, 1985.

The Niners have won two in a row in this series and dominated the Bears 32-7
when the clubs last met on Nov. 19, 2012 in a clash on Monday night.

That contest saw San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick make his first
career start as he took over the reigns from Alex Smith and never looked back.
He threw for 243 yards and a pair of touchdowns to pace the Niners as they
outgained the Bears 353-143.

With Chicago starting quarterback Jay Cutler out due to a concussion, Jason
Campbell was sacked six times, with 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith credited with
5 1/2 sacks.

Smith, though, missed last week's opener as he serves a nine-game suspension
for violating the league's drug policy, while inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman
is out while recovering from a torn ACL.

That didn't stop the defense from dominating the Dallas Cowboys in a 28-17 win
as it intercepted Tony Romo three straight times and turned four Cowboy
turnovers into 21 points. That included a fumble recovery by cornerback Chris
Culliver who took it 35 yards for a score just three plays into the game.

"This game was about steel in the spine. When it comes to 49er players, that's
where they excel," said San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Kaepernick went 16-of-23 for 201 yards with a pair of touchdown passes to
Vernon Davis, while Frank Gore and rookie Carlos Hyde combined for 113 yards
on the ground. Hyde also scored his first NFL touchdown.

San Francisco has won 15 of its past 20 home openers, including all three
under Harbaugh, and Kaepernick doesn't think that playing in a brand-new
stadium will distract the team.

"I think everyone's focused on Chicago," he said. "I don't think we're worried
about having our first game here. We're worried about trying to get this win."

The Bears also are worried about getting a win as they lost a 23-20 game in
overtime to the Buffalo Bills in Week 1. Chicago overcame a 10-point deficit
in the second half and forced extra time on Robbie Gould's 37-yard field goal
with 30 seconds left in regulation, but Buffalo got a 38-yard run by back Fred
Jackson in overtime that set up Dan Carpenter's game-winning 27-yard boot.

Jay Cutler completed 34-of-49 passes for 349 yards with a pair of touchdowns,
but also was intercepted twice. Brandon Marshall had eight catches for 71
yards with a score, but had a fumble.

The Bills turned three Bears turnovers into 13 points.

"I thought the offensive line did a great job. Turnovers hurt us, penalties
hurt us. We just kept stubbing our toe on certain things throughout the game,"
Cutler said. "Overall, we just didn't get the job done offensively."

Alshon Jeffery caught five passes for 71 yards while being limited by a
hamstring injury and Martellus Bennett hauled in eight throws for 70 yards and
a score. Matt Forte carried the ball 17 times for 82 yards and added 87 yards
receiving on eight catches.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

The 49ers secondary will have its hands full with Marshall and Jeffery, but
both Bears wide receivers are hobbled and considered day-to-day. Jeffery's
hamstring injury limited his role in last Sunday's loss, while Marshall
finished the game but sustained an ankle issue.

That could be good news for a San Francisco club that had a pair of
cornerbacks in Culliver (concussion) and Tramaine Brock (toe) miss practice on
Wednesday.

Even though San Francisco remains without Smith and Bowman, Cutler could still
find himself facing some heavy pressure due to a banged-up offensive line.
Both guard Matt Slauson and center Roberto Garza suffered ankle injuries
versus the Bills that has their status for this game in doubt.

Telling is the Bears' re-signing of offensive lineman Eben Britton on Tuesday,
though rookie guard Michael Ola and center Brian de la Puente remain in line
to start in place of Slauson and Garza if needed.

"It would have been great to have them in there," Bears right tackle Jordan
Mills said of Slauson and Garza after Sunday's loss, "but unfortunately, they
got injured. Just like (Bears head coach Marc) Trestman says, 'Depth is key.'
We expect if anyone goes down - me or anyone else, whoever comes in to replace
us, we expect them to play like a starter. Like I said before, de la and Ola
did a great job replacing Garza and Slauson. It was unfortunate that two of
our starters and leaders went down, but they came in and did a great job."

They certainly performed well enough for Forte to have a solid game as he was
the first Bears player since 2000 to have 80-plus rushing and 80-plus
receiving yards in the same game.

Bears defensive end Jared Allen has a sack and forced fumble in two straight
meetings with the Niners and will be one of the players counted on to contain
Kaepernick.

"He's an extremely explosive player, as explosive as they get in this league,"
Trestman said of Kaepernick on Chicago's website. "He can not only throw well
in the pocket, he can throw outside the pocket."

While Kaepernick got some good lucks to tight end Davis, he was helped by a
running game that saw Hyde serve as a solid pairing with Gore. The rookie Hyde
averaged 7.1 yards per carry on seven attempts to help keep Gore fresh.

His presence will only benefit Gore, who managed 66 yards to eclipse 10,000
for his career.

"Was very pleased with Carlos," said Harbaugh. "Thought he had some explosive
runs. Hit the hole very well. Was good in his blocking and his pass
protection. And also things that he's going to learn from in this game, two,
three things right off the bat. You dip your toe in and you understand that
there's improvements to make."

One player who will need to improve on history in this game will be Cutler,
who has thrown for 537 yards and one touchdown to six interceptions in two
previous meetings with the Niners, posting a 52.5 passer rating.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

The spotlight of a primetime game will be on both clubs as they christen
Levi's Stadium, and the Bears will be aiming to play spoiler.

That will be easier said than done against a 49ers team played solid against
the pass last week. The Bears will need to get Forte going early after seeing
Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray run for over 100 yards versus San
Francisco.

Getting Forte moving on the ground could also limit the mistakes that Cutler
is prone to make, but San Francisco is just too good on defense not to get to
the Bears quarterback and the offense will capitalize on a mistake or two made
by the Bears.

Tonight's game can be heard on Newstalk 1060 with the Pre-Game Show at 7.

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