Chicago @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 19, 2012 ) Chicago 7, San Francisco 32

Reports of the demise of the San Francisco 49ers' defense appear to be more than slightly exaggerated after the unit registered four turnovers in an easy season-opening victory over Dallas. The 49ers face another high-powered offense when they host the Chicago Bears on Sunday night in the first game at Levi's Stadium. "Everyone that's been talking about our defense, about how we won't be as good and what not, I don't get caught up in all that," Pro Bowl linebacker Patrick Willis said.

While the 49ers picked off three first-half passes en route to an early knockout of the Cowboys, a pair of interceptions also proved to be costly for the Bears, leading to 10 points in an eventual 23-20 overtime defeat to visiting Buffalo. "Obviously we made mistakes today and we've got to clean them up and got to keep it going," Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler said after throwing for 349 yards and a pair of scores. It will mark the first matchup between the teams since San Francisco drubbed the visiting Bears 32-7 in November 2012.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NBC. LINE: 49ers -7. O/U: 48.5

ABOUT THE BEARS (0-1): Chicago has some major injury concerns with starting wide receivers Brandon Marshall (ankle) and Alshon Jeffrey (hamstring) sitting out practice against Thursday, although Marshall said: "I'll be out there Sunday." The duo each had 71 yards receiving last week following a stellar 2013 campaign in which Marshall had 100 catches and 12 touchdowns and Jeffrey added 89 receptions and 1,421 yards receiving. That could force the Bears to rely even more on running back Matt Forte, who rushed for 82 yards on 17 carries and matched Marshall's total of eight catches for 87 yards against the Bills. Chicago's defense, a sieve for much of last season, limited Buffalo to 15 first downs but gave up 193 yards on the ground.

ABOUT THE 49ERS (1-0): Colin Kaepernick, who made his first career start in the lopsided victory over Chicago two years ago, threw for only 201 yards but tossed a pair of second-quarter scoring passes to tight end Vernon Davis and guided San Francisco to 7-of-12 efficiency on third-down conversions. Veteran running back Frank Gore rushed for 66 yards to go over 10,000 yards for his career while rookie Carlos Hyde made quite an impression in his NFL debut by chipping in 50 yards and a score on only seven carries. Willis was among three players to record an interception and veteran Justin Smith had two sacks to pace a defense that didn't allow the Cowboys into the end zone until the final 30 seconds of the third quarter.

EXTRA POINTS

1. San Francisco has won seven straight at home versus the Bears, with a victory margin of at least 17 points in six of the matchups.

2. Cutler recorded his 10th 300-yard passing game with Chicago, the most in franchise history.

3. 49ers DE Ray McDonald, who was recently arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, is expected to start again this week.

PREDICTION: 49ers 30, Bears 23