Bears fight for Mitch Trubisky — and for playoff seeding — in win vs. 49ers

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The 49ers hit Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky and touched a nerve.

Trubisky scrambled in front of his own bench with about 5½ minutes left in the Bears’ 14-9 victory Sunday at Levi’s Stadium. After he had slid to the ground, giving himself up, 49ers safety Marcell Harris hit him late. Flags flew. Harris skidded into the Bears’ bench, where it seemed as though the entire roster wanted a shot at him.

By the time the shoving — and punching — ended, Bears receivers Josh Bellamy and Anthony Miller were ejected for fighting. So was 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman.

‘‘It hit a little pressure point with everybody,’’ Bellamy said.

The reason? The last time Trubisky took a similar hit while sliding, Vikings safety Harrison Smith injured his right shoulder and knocked him out for two games.

‘‘He already missed a couple of games because of a late hit,’’ Miller said. ‘‘So when I see that, that’s, like, dirty football.’’

The 11-4 Bears fought all game — and not just for their quarterback. By winning an ugly game, they clinched no worse than the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs.

If they beat the Vikings in Week 17 and the Rams lose to the 49ers, the Bears would vault into the No. 2 seed and claim a first-round bye. They then would host a divisional-round game the weekend of Jan. 12-13.

If the narrow victory against the 4-11 49ers proved anything, it’s how valuable playing home games — and not road games — would be in the playoffs.

Running back Jordan Howard, whose two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter proved to be the game-winner, had one thought when Trubisky was hit.

‘‘To get the guy,’’ he said. ‘‘Definitely a sore spot. He got hurt on a late hit, same kind of play. I feel like they’re just trying to take the quarterback out.’’

Harris said he ‘‘felt I laid up’’ on Trubisky, trying to slow down after he saw him slide. Coach Matt Nagy said he didn’t think the hit was intentional, but he didn’t blame his players for defending Trubisky.

RELATED

• Bears’ victory was much more of a trial than it should have been

• ‘That next step’: Mitch Trubisky went from erratic to efficient in Bears’ win

After the fight, Bellamy and Miller watched the rest of the fourth quarter on a locker-room TV.

‘‘We knew they’d pull it out,’’ Miller said. ‘‘When the defense got on the field, I knew they’d get the stop.’’

They did, but they never should have been in that situation.

Fired up after the fight, the Bears faced fourth-and-one from their 35. They ran Trubisky, who finished 25-for-29 for 246 yards for a 113.5 passer rating, up the middle for a first down. The 49ers used their timeouts on each of the next three plays.

After the two-minute warning, the Bears faced third-and-three. Trubisky completed a slant pass to Allen Robinson, who got the first down. He still was running when cornerback Tarvarius Moore punched the ball out of his right arm. The ball rolled 12 yards before the 49ers recovered it at their 24 with a chance to win.

On second down, quarterback Nick Mullens completed a 25-yard pass to Kendrick Bourne to get the ball to midfield. After a six-yard pass and two incompletions, Mullens faced fourth-and-four from the Bears’ 45. He rolled to his right and seemingly could have kept the ball for at least four yards. Instead, he threw the ball downfield, where it fell incomplete.

‘‘I stood there for 30 seconds, just understanding what I just did — and how big a mistake it was,’’ Mullens said.

It was the second big stop for the Bears’ defense in the quarter. Four plays before the fight, the 49ers had first-and-10 at the Bears’ 20 when Mullens threw a quick pass that bounced off Marquise Goodwin’s hands and into inside linebacker Danny Trevathan’s stomach.

‘‘I kind of cradled it like a baby,’’ Trevathan said with a smile.

To escape with the victory, the Bears limited the 49ers to three field goals by Robbie Gould.

‘‘These are real games, but they’re also practice reps,’’ cornerback Prince Amukamara said. ‘‘We know there’s going to be a time in the playoffs — or later in the year — when we need to go out there on defense. And it’s great that we’ve been there before, and it’s not foreign to us.’’

Neither is escaping with a victory.

‘‘It was definitely a trap game for us,’’ Howard said. ‘‘So I’m proud of us for fighting through and winning this game.’’