Bears Game Ball

GAME BALL:

Frank Gore

San Francisco RB Frank Gore scored the game's only touchdown on a 14-yard run shortly before halftime. Then the 49ers relied on the powerful fifth-year man to chew up the clock in the fourth quarter. Gore finished with 104 yards to join Cedric Benson as the only 100-yard rushers against the Bears this year.

QB (1 ball)

It's not just the fact Jay Cutler threw an INT with the Bears at SF's 1-yard line: It's that he tried to thread the ball through three Niners to get it to Kellen Davis-and without a pass rusher within 4 yards of him. Give him no blame for his second INT, 50 percent for his third, 50 percent for his fourth and 100 percent for his fifth.

RB (2 balls)

Matt Forte made several Niners tacklers miss, especially when the Bears ran well-timed screens in the open field. His 8 catches and 120 yards were career highs.He finished with 41 rushing yards on 20 carries.

WR (1 ball)

Devin Hester suffered through an all-time series in the second quarter: He false-started before the first play, held on the next play and capped the drive by slipping on his cut and allowing Tarell Brown to pick off Cutler's pass. Greg Olsen was the lone reliable target (7 catches for 75 yards).

OL (1.5 balls)

LG Josh Beekman? Blown up on the Bears' first play. RT Chris Williams? Bull-rushed onto his butt on the third play. It got better from there, though still little room to run between the tackles. Good to see Olin Kreutz and Co., hustling 25 yards downfield to make the extra block on the screens.

DL (3 balls)

Two offside calls on the Niners' first possession. Tommie Harris picked up his first sack since Game 12 last year, primarily because Adewale Ogunleye got the pressure. In the third quarter, Harris dropped Frank Gore for a 3-yard loss on his own. Ogunleye's offside penalty overrode Lance Briggs' third-quarter INT.

LB (4 balls)

Gore rarely got extra yards after getting to the second level as Briggs (12 tackles) and Hunter Hillenmeyer (8 tackles) plugged the gaps. Nick Roach nearly batted an Alex Smith pass into his own hands for an INT.

Secondary (3 balls)

Zach Bowman played his responsibility perfectly when he picked off Smith's deep pass to Michael Crabtree. Danieal Manning, on the other hand, keyed inexplicably on an engaged tight end and opened up the spot where Gore romped in for the game's first score.

Special teams (3 balls)

Robbie Gould nailed a 50-yard field goal to cap the first half - the second-longest kick of his career. The Bears' return games did nothing. Then again, the Niners' return games were muted as well. Brad Maynard dropped a perfect coffin kick at SF's 6 late in the third quarter.

Coaching (1.5 balls)

Who's to blame for the frequent false starts and offsides penalties that occur game after game after game? And, no, it doesn't offset the credit for lighting a fire under Harris. Nice usage of Forte on screen passes.