Chicago Bears: Previewing Week 16 with Niner Noise

1. The Niners appear to be better than their 4-10 record which includes two straight wins over the Denver Broncos and surging Seattle Seahawks. Are the Niners going to play spoiler in the NFC playoff picture with games against the Bears and Rams the last two weeks of the season? What’s the outlook beyond 2018?

I agree that the 49ers are better than their record would indicate — particularly when it was a league-low 2-10 — but consistency remains a problem, as their play varies drastically from week to week. However, Nick Mullens has brought some stability to the team as the game has slowed down for the former undrafted free-agent quarterback over the past two weeks.

Mullens has yet to face a defense like Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s, which could cause problems for the youngster, especially if the 49ers fall behind. In order to play spoiler over their last two games, San Francisco will need to flip the script on the Bears and Rams in the turnover department. The Niners currently rank last in the NFL with just five takeaways, while Chicago and Los Angeles both rank in the top-3.

The long-term outlook in San Francisco is still bright since much of their 2018 misfortune is a result of injuries to key starters like QB Jimmy Garoppolo, as well as a horrendous turnover differential that is bound to regress to the mean in 2019.