Thursday

Greg Olsen

Can the Bears’ tight end repeat his monster effort from last week?

Olsen faces a San Francisco defense Thursday night (8:20 p.m. ET, NFL Network; betting line: 49ers -3) that ranks 24th versus the pass, but he’ll likely be matched against linebacker Patrick Willis, one of the best in the business. Willis is third in the league in tackles with 86 and is one of the few 49ers who seems up to any challenge week in, week out.

While the Bears will look for Olsen as they always do, don’t expect him to hit the end zone three times, as he did against the Cardinals. Or even at all.

“He’s been keyed on all year,” Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler said. “That’s been a challenge for us to get him the ball because he’s been getting jammed at the line a lot. He’s been getting a lot of double teams in the red zone. Teams have known that we want to try to get him the ball. We just were able to find some ways to get him the ball last Sunday.”

THE SIGNPOST: Olsen had five catches for 71 yards last week. Expect him to grab balls in the open field against the 49ers but not to get in the end zone when Willis will really lock down.

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