49ers vs. Chicago Bears

Terrell Owens set the NFL single-game receptions record with 20 catches for 283 yards and a touchdown and the 49ers shut out the Chicago Bears 17-0 at 3Com Park. Jeff Garcia threw for 402 yards on 36 of 44 passing. Greg Clark caught a touchdown. The defense produced four sacks and held the Bears to 154 total yards. Owens broke Tom Fears' 1950 record of 18 catches in a game.[1][2]

Tom Fears caught 18 passes in a game for the Los Angeles Rams against the Green Bay Packers on December 3, 1950. The record stood for fifty years and twenty-two days. Sunday at 3Com Park, Terrell Owens caught his nineteenth pass of the afternoon on a third-quarter slant from Jeff Garcia and broke it. He finished with 20 catches for 283 yards and a touchdown. The 49ers won 17-0.

The record is the kind that gets written into the league's history sheet in pencil and then in pen after the third time it is mentioned in the next decade's broadcasts. Owens caught the twentieth pass in the fourth quarter. The 49ers' offensive script was designed around the chase; Garcia threw 44 times. The 49ers' defense pitched a shutout of the Bears' offense and added the staff its first shutout victory since 1997.

49ers 17, Bears 0. Margin: plus 17. Record: 6-9, minus 5 differential. • Owens: 20 catches for 283, 1 TD (NFL single-game record for receptions; previous mark Tom Fears 18, 1950). • Garcia: 36-of-44 for 402, 2 TDs, 0 INTs (career single-game high in passing yards). • Rice: 7 catches for 76 (final home game). • Clark: 3 catches for 20, 1 TD. • Garner: 14 carries for 43. • Defense: 4 sacks, 0 points allowed, 154 total yards allowed. • McNown: 9-of-29 for 73, 0 TDs.

A 17-0 home shutout of the Bears. The 49ers improve to 6-9 in the season's final home game. Terrell Owens broke the NFL single-game receptions record with 20 catches.

How it unfolded

The 49ers opened with a 12-play touchdown drive ending in a Garcia 1-yard touchdown to Greg Clark. The Bears went three-and-out on their opening possession; the defensive front sacked McNown on third-and-five. The second quarter produced a Richey 35-yard field goal to push the lead to 10-0. The third quarter belonged to Owens: catches 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19. The 19th was the slant that broke the Fears record. Owens added the 20th catch and a 13-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 17-0. The defensive front held the Bears to 73 passing yards and three first downs.

The turning point

The third-quarter chase of the record. Mariucci's offensive script in the second half was built around feeding Owens, and the Bears' secondary did not have an answer for the slant route that produced the bulk of the catches. Owens caught his 18th to tie Fears in the third quarter and the 19th to break it on the next 49ers offensive series.

By the numbers