SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Jay Cutler threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes, and the Chicago Bears completed a comeback from a 17-point deficit, spoiling the regular-season debut of the 49ers’ new stadium with a 28-20 victory over San Francisco on Sunday night.
The Bears intercepted 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick three times, then stopped San Francisco on downs at the Chicago 17 with a little more than a minute to go to record their first win of the season after a disappointing loss to the Buffalo Bills in the opener.
Cutler threw four touchdown passes, three to wide receiver Brandon Marshall and one to tight end Martellus Bennett, helping Chicago bounce back after falling behind 17-0 in the second quarter. He completed 23 of 34 for 176 yards with no interceptions.
Each team is 1-1 following the game at Levi’s Stadium.
Backup cornerback Kyle Fuller intercepted Kaepernick twice in the fourth quarter, each time setting up a touchdown.
Fuller’s first pick came on the 49ers’ first offensive play after Cutler hit Marshall for a 5-yard score with 13:35 to go, cutting the 49ers’ lead to 20-14.
A 20-yard return set up the Bears on the San Francisco 3, from where Cutler found Bennett in the right side of the end zone for the go-ahead score.
Fuller struck again a little more than four minutes later, leaving his man to intercept Kaepernick at the Chicago 40.
This time, an 18-yard return put the Bears in business at the 49ers’ 42. Four plays later, Cutler connected with Marshall from 3 yards out for the touchdown. Robbie Gould’s PAT made it 28-20 with 6:55 to go.
The 49ers drove 63 yards in an effort to tie on their final possession. However, a 2-yard loss on a Kaepernick run and a delay-of-game penalty helped stall the drive, and Kaepernick’s last-ditch effort on fourth-and-9 from the 17 fell incomplete at the goal line, intended for wide receiver Michael Crabtree.
Kaepernick went 21-for-34 for 248 yards. He threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Crabtree in the first quarter, and running back Frank Gore scored on an 8-yard run in the second.
The Chicago comeback began with the Bears’ only signs of life in the first half, an 80-yard drive in the final 2:22 of the second quarter that produced their first points.
Marshall got the Bears on the scoreboard with a 17-yard touchdown catch of a Cutler pass with 13 seconds remaining in the half, closing the gap to 17-7.
San Francisco kicker Phil Dawson provided the only scoring of the third quarter with a 24-yard field goal, his second of the game, but even that contributed to the Chicago comeback. For the second time in the game, the Bears’ defense stopped the 49ers inside the 10, forcing a field goal that increased the San Francisco lead only to 20-7 with 5:56 left in the third quarter.
Just as they had in their Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys, the 49ers built a double-digit lead in the first half and put the opponent almost immediately into catch-up mode.
The 49ers overcame a lost fumble and a Kaepernick interception to go up 17-0 in the half, benefitting early from the first highlight of Levi’s Stadium history — a blocked punt by backup linebacker Aaron Lynch.
The block occurred after the Bears’ first drive, which started at their 7-yard line because of a holding infraction on the opening kickoff, went just one yard in three plays.
Bears punter Pat O’Donnell then couldn’t get off his fourth-down kick, with the ball deflecting off Lynch and out-of-bounds at the Chicago 8-yard line.
It took the 49ers just three offensive plays to score their first regular-season touchdown in stadium history only 2:18 in. On third down from the 3, Kaepernick found Crabtree wide open at the goal line in front of Bears safety Chris Conte for the score, which was upheld after the first of three replay reviews in the half.
The second replay resulted in an overturn that proved critical to the 49ers’ second scoring drive. An apparent interception by Bears cornerback Charles Tillman was taken away when replay was deemed to show the ball hitting the ground.
Given a second life, the 49ers went 72 yards in 14 plays, with Dawson making it 10-0 with 2:48 left in the first quarter with a field goal from 27 yards out after the penalty-marred drive stalled at the Chicago 9.
Gore’s touchdown run came after the Bears failed to capitalize on the two second-quarter 49ers turnovers. Bruce Ellington’s 19-yard punt return set up just a 30-yard touchdown drive, with 22 of the 30 yards coming on a Kaepernick connection to third-string tight end Derek Carrier.
NOTES: San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh failed in his bid to become just the fourth active coach to win his first four home openers. The ones he accomplished the feat are John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens, Mike Smith of the Atlanta Falcons and Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers. … Niners offensive tackle Joe Staley made his 100th career start, becoming just the 20th offensive lineman in club history to reach that milestone. … Bears WR Brandon Marshall and WR Alshon Jeffery both started after they were listed as questionable all week. … The official game-time temperature on regular-season opening night of Levi’s Stadium was 78 degrees.
