The upcoming clash between the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears is set to be a crucial game. With both teams sitting at 11-4, the winner will have a chance at competing for the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs in Week 18. But analyst Jeff Saturday believes it’s a bigger game for the Niners than the Bears.
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Given that the Bears haven’t made the playoffs since 2020, many might argue that it’s a bigger game for them. But not according to Saturday.
Considering the circumstances and stakes, the ESPN analyst made a strong argument for why it’s more crucial for San Francisco, mostly revolving around home-field advantage.
“You’ve got the two home games, then you go through the playoffs, then you’ve got the Super Bowl literally at your home stadium. It doesn’t get any better than this,” Saturday said on First Take. “Everything is set up for them. Oh, by the way, you’re going to play and beat 2 teams that you will have to see in the playoffs, being the Bears and the Seahawks potentially.”
That’s right, if the 49ers win on Sunday, they would have a chance to host home games for the rest of the season, both regular and postseason. Their Levi’s Stadium is the host for the Super Bowl. Winning on Sunday would provide a massive advantage.
“You got the Super Bowl literally at your home stadium, it doesn’t get any better than this.” ✍️@SaturdayJeff on the 49ers as they prepare for the playoffs pic.twitter.com/qyUwGW8wfZ
— First Take (@FirstTake) December 24, 2025
The only way the 49ers can secure home-field advantage for the rest of the year, though, is if they win this week against the Bears and next week against the Seattle Seahawks.
As of now, the sportsbooks are favoring the Niners by three points for their game against Chicago, and ESPN analytics gives them a 61.4% chance to win. So, everyone is expecting them to take advantage of this rare opportunity.
The only issue is that the Bears are red hot right now. They’ve won seven of their last eight games, including a gutsy late-game comeback last week against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday. They’re simply scintillating at the moment.
Regardless, we expect the 49ers to come away with the victory on Sunday. As Saturday said, this is a prime opportunity to get a massive advantage moving forward. Surely, head coach Kyle Shanahan knows this and has conveyed it to his players. Expect the Niners to be locked in on Sunday.
If the 49ers do end up making the Super Bowl, it would be the third time we’ve seen a host city’s team playing in the game since 2020. So, this hasn’t exactly been a rare occurrence as of late. But it would still be incredibly circumstantial and would undoubtedly give them the upper hand going into the Big Game.
