When push comes to shove, you want Richard Sherman on your side.
The San Francisco 49ers battled against the NFC North champion Chicago Bears and lost, but they battled.
“It is unfortunate on how it ended up where we had a shot,” said defensive lineman DeForest Buckner. “We didn’t finish the way we wanted to, but we definitely gave them a run for their money.”
Nice to Have Sherman on Your Side
After rookie safety Marcell Harris was called for a late hit on Chicago quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in the fourth quarter, Harris was surrounded by Bears and Richard Sherman went in to fight them… all of them.
“It’s their whole sideline against one of my teammates,” Sherman said. “And the rest of us, everybody was trying to get [Harris]. As a leader, you can’t let them do your teammate like that. Regardless of the circumstances, regardless of what’s going down.”
Sherman is most definitely a leader. It’s a role he took on the moment he arrived in Santa Clara and that has continued on-and-off the field all season.
“I don’t know what happened over there,” said head coach Kyle Shanahan. “Sherm was very clear to me he was trying to get his brother’s back and I love for guys to do that as much as they can. It’s definitely better when they do as much as they can and they don’t get ejected. But, they had two get ejected and we had one, so that was better. I respect the heck out of Sherm…”
Though multiple players were involved in the scuffle, Sherman and Bears’ receivers Joshua Bellamy and Anthony Miller were the biggest offenders and all three were ejected.
“I went in there to grab him, and they continued to pull and jerk and grab on me,” said Sherman. “I’m a grown man with kids. I don’t care about any of that. At the end of the day, they’re going to get punished for it. You know what I mean? You’re going to catch these hands with the wrong man.”
Keeping It Close
The 49ers had their work cut out for them with the NFC North Champs and their formidable defense, but San Francisco, now 4-11, held their own.
They continued to struggle in the red zone, settling for three field goals in the 14-9 loss, but quarterback Nick Mullens kept his team in the game going 22-of-38 for 241 yards and an interception. The INT was a team effort on a ball thrown in front of Marquise Goodwin, but it was catchable. Losing Matt Breida and Dante Pettis to injury certainly didn’t help.
In the second quarter, the Niners had a chance for six points but couldn’t convert on a TD try to George Kittle. And with under two minutes in the fourth quarter on 4th and 4, Mullens seemed to have plenty of room to run for a first down but instead threw a failed Hail Mary to Goodwin.
“The second I threw it,” Mullens said. “If you look at the film or whatever, I mean I stood there for 30 seconds just understanding what I’ve just did, and how big of a mistake it was.”
Live and learn.
The 49ers defense continued its upward swing, holding the Bears to 100 yards rushing and quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to one touchdown and sacking him three times – two from Cassius Marsh and one from Buckner, his 12th on the year.
The season ends next week in Los Angeles against the Rams. 49ers fans should feel very good about what’s to come in 2019. Go Niners!
