Dec. 04--The Chicago Bears have a chance to boost their playoff hopes this weekend, hosting a struggling San Francisco 49ers squad at Soldier Field. Coming off an energizing 17-13 road upset of the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving night, the Bears seem to be in the right mindset to build off that momentum. Now comes a true test for them to handle their business in a home game they should win. In the lead up to Sunday's contest, here are a handful of eye-catching facts and figures.
35-14: Average score of the 49ers' five road games this season. The 49ers are one of two NFL teams -- along with the Washington Redskins -- who are still searching for their first road victory this season. The Redskins host the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night before visiting Soldier Field in Week 14.
1-4: Bears' record in five games at Soldier Field this season. That includes losses to the Packers, Cardinals, Vikings and Broncos plus a win over the Raiders. The average score of those contests: Opponents 28, Bears 21.
4: Touchdown passes thrown by Bears quarterback Jay Cutler in his last meeting with the 49ers, a 28-20 win in Week 2 of last season. Cutler threw three of those TDs to Brandon Marshall and the fourth to Martellus Bennett, helping rally the Bears from a 17-0 first-half deficit.
3: Touchdown passes needed by Cutler to reach 200 for his career. Only 38 players in league history have thrown for 200 TDs.
36: Receiving yards needed by 49ers veteran Anquan Boldin to reach 13,000 for his career. Boldin, now in his 13th season, would become the 17th player to reach 13,000 yards. He has seven 1,000-yard seasons in his career but enters Sunday's contest with just 44 grabs for 558 yards and two TDs this year.
22: Number of players who have started on defense for the Bears this season. That includes five defensive linemen; four outside linebackers; four inside linebackers; five cornerbacks and four safeties.
6: Touchdowns allowed by the Bears defense in their five November games. Since Oct. 1, the Bears' D has kept opposing offenses from scoring multiple touchdowns in five of eight games.
187: Bears rushing yardage over the past two games combined. The Bears have averaged 3.3 yards per rush in games against the Packers and Broncos and have now fallen to 16th in the NFL in total rushing yards (110.5 per game) and 25th in yards per carry (3.8).
24: Field goals made this season by Bears kicker Robbie Gould, third most in the league behind Kansas City's Cairo Santos (26) and Carolina's Graham Gano (25). Gould's career-high for field goals in a season is 32, set back in 2006. Gould made his first 17 attempts this season, missed the next three and has now made his past seven.
327.1: Yards per game compiled by the Bears offense this season, a 5.9 percent increase from last season. The Bears' yards-per-play has ticked up only slightly, from 5.2 in 2014 to 5.3 this season.
1.2: Turnovers per game by the Bears offense, a 34.8 percent improvement over last season when they committed 29 offensive giveaways in 16 games. Last season, Bears opponents scored 95 points off turnovers. This season, opponents have turned Bears turnovers into 51 points.
dwiederer@tribpub.com
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