Chicago Bears vs San Francisco 49ers: A Look Inside The Numbers

All statistics and snap counts* are taken directly from the NFL's Game Statistic and Information System.

*The official NFL offensive snap count this week currently lists the blocked punt as an offensive play, so there may be a +1/-1 discrepancy in some of the snap counts.

The Chicago Bears are sitting at 1-1 after two games, just like most NFL experts predicted when perusing the schedule a few weeks ago. It really doesn't matter how the Bears got to this point, but what does matter is that they are tied atop the division lead and are 1-0 in the conference.

The two things that come to mind about last night's game, besides the excitement of the comeback of course, was the ridiculous amount of flags thrown and the lengthy drives the San Francisco offense had most of the game.

The refs threw 35 flags last night, 16 against the Chicago Bears and 19 against the San Francisco 49ers. The Bears had 10 accepted against them accounting for 58 yards and the Niners had 16 walked off against them for 118 yards. The overall yardage differential is fairly large, but there were only 3 flags more thrown on the 49ers.

The Bears only had one drive last longer than 3:53, and that was their 13 play 80 yard drive (7:21) that led to Jay Cutler's 2nd touchdown throw.

The 49ers had three 14 play drives that ate up 7:44, 9:04 and their final drive which ended on downs went 5:44.They won the time of possession 33:51 to 26:09.

San Francisco also had more yards than the Bears, 361 to 216, but as is often the case it was the turnover margin that made a big difference last night. San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, the Bears didn't turn the ball over once.

The much maligned Bears run defense held the 49er running backs to 63 yards on 18 carries (3.5 ypc). Kaepernick had a few designed runs sprinkled in with his scrambles to bring their overall totals to 27 attempts, 129 yards and a 4.8 yards per carry, but that's still considered progress.

On offense it was a stellar 2nd half for Bears' QB Jay Cutler. After the break he completed 13 of 14 passes for 112 yards and 3 TDs. In the fourth quarter alone he was 5 for 5, 51 yards and 3 TDs. Mr. Fourth Quarter indeed. Overall he was 23 of 34 for 176 yards, 4 TDs and a passer rating of 119.2.

Cutler, his five offensive linemen and running back Matt Forte are the only Bears to play all 59 offensive snaps. Forte had a tough outing, rushing for only 21 yards on 12 attempts, and only 15 yards receiving on 5 catches. Forte was targeted eight times as was Brandon Marshall and Martellus Bennett.

Marshall hauled in 5 balls for 48 yards and 3 TDs, while only taking one play off. Bennett had 7 receptions for 37 yards and a TD on 54 plays. Alshon Jeffery also played 54 snaps, and he had 6 balls thrown his way of which he caught 3 for 47 yards.

Number three wide out Santonio Holmes played 44 snaps and caught 2 for 20 yards. Newly signed wide outs Josh Bellamy and Chris Williams rarely saw the field on offense playing 3 and 1 snap respectively. Bellamy did chip in with 8 special teams plays. Back up tight end Dante Rosario had one catch in his 12 offensive plays, he also added 16 plays on special teams. TE Mathew Mulligan had 11 snaps on O.

It was safety Ryan Mundy that played the most plays on defense for the Bears, 66 of 67, and he added 12 special teams snaps. The NFL had him down for 7 tackles, which led the Bears. Chris Conte, Chicago's other starting safety, only managed 22 snaps before he exited with a shoulder injury. He had 2 tackles to go along with one of the most athletic interceptions you'll ever see.

Safety Danny McCray had 44 snaps on D and 19 on special teams, he chipped in with 3 total tackles and a fumble recovery. Rookie Brock Vereen saw his first defensive action while filling in for 16 plays, mostly at nickelback. He was forced into the game with the injuries to Charles Tillman (39 snaps) and Sherrick McManis, who played just 2 snaps.

MORE AT WCG - Charles Tillman placed on season ending IR

Tim Jennings had 65 snaps, while rookie Kyle Fuller had 43. Fuller had two of the three interceptions for the Bears to go along with 7 total tackles.

It will be interesting to see if the Bears scrap the idea of Jennings playing nickel corner now that Tillman's season is done.

Of the linebackers it was Lance Briggs who played the most at 65 snaps. He had 6 tackles including one tackle for loss (TFL). Shea McClellin (38/67) had 3 tackles, a sack and a TFL. Starting middle linebacker D.J. Williams had a tackle among his 36 snaps. Jon Bostic had 34 plays, 4 tackles, including 1 TFL.

On the defensive line, starting DT Jeremiah Ratliff picked up 2 tackles and a TFL in his 32 plays before leaving with a concussion. The other starting DT, Stephen Paea, played 38 snaps while picking up his first sack of the season. The two rookie DTs, Will Sutton and Ego Ferguson, each played a career high in snaps. Sutton had 31 and Ferguson had 21, Ego also picked up the first tackle of his career.

Lamarr Houston started at left defensive end and he also kicked inside for a few DT snaps, totaling 50 in all. Jared Allen forced a fumble, had 3 tackles and a TFL in his d-line-high 62 snaps. Willie Young added 2 more sacks to his team leading total of three in his 34 snaps last night. And yes, I agree with you, get this man on the field more.

A few other special teamers of note, Christian Jones, Senorise Perry and Shaun Draughn each had 17 snaps and newly signed safety Ahmad Dixon had 9. Pat O'Donnell had one punt blocked, which dropped the average from his five good punts from 47.6 to 39.7. He also had a special teams tackle.

What are your thoughts on the numbers?