SANTA CLARA – A stunning 49ers victory after two consecutive lopsided losses raised this question as the sun set on Levi’s Stadium on Sunday: Too much, too late?

A 38-13 win over the woeful Chicago Bears ended the 49ers’ three-game losing streak, but now they need a longer winning streak to make a legitimate push into the playoffs.

The 49ers (6-7) were only able to avoid losing ground in the crowded NFC West race. They remained two games behind first-place Seattle (8:5) and had a chance to even reach second place with a win over the visiting Los Angeles Rams (7:6) on Thursday evening. The Cardinals (6-7) lost 30-18 at home to the Seahawks, while the Rams were on their way to a home win against the Buffalo Bills, who were coming off a 35-10 loss to the 49ers.

Brock Purdy recovered exceptionally well from the 94-yard punch in the Buffalo snow. He passed for 325 yards and completed 20 of 25 passes with two touchdowns and no turnovers, including 258 yards in the first half as the 49ers built a 24-0 lead.

Purdy’s open-field muse was George Kittle, who rushed for 151 yards on six catches after his only catch came on the 49ers’ opening snap in Buffalo last week

Jauan Jennings caught both of Purdy’s touchdown passes, and rookie Isaac Guerendo ran for two touchdowns in his star debut in place of injured reserve rushers Christian McCaffrey and Jordan Mason.

Aside from Purdy suffering a clothesline hit in the fourth quarter, the 49ers’ low point Sunday came just minutes later, when Guerendo went to the locker room with a foot injury. He had 78 rushing yards (15 carries) and 50 receiving yards (two catches) before exiting with 6:13 left. Patrick Taylor Jr. followed a minute later with a 3-yard touchdown run for a 25-point lead.

The 49ers’ 24-0 halftime lead was their largest since Purdy’s starting debut two years ago, when they led 28-0 and were coming off a 35-7 win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Bucs. They outscored the Bears 319-4 in an underwhelming first half on Sunday, and the 49ers’ much-maligned defense had sacked rookie Caleb Williams four times.

In their debut under interim coach Thomas Brown, the Bears (4-9) lost their seventh straight, and with 1:59 left, their defense was forced to celebrate an interception by Purdy’s backup Brandon Allen.

The 49ers wasted no time getting over the jet lag (and pain) following their losses at Green Bay (38-10) and Buffalo (35-10). They opened Sunday with a 70-yard touchdown drive that began and ended with 7-yard completions to Jennings; In between, Purdy found Guerendo for a 23-yard third-down conversion and then Kittle for a 33-yard screen with lead blocks from Jaylon Moore and Jake Brendel.

The 49ers took a 14-0 lead on a 1-yard run by Guerendo, who caught a 27-yard pass from a speeding Purdy on the previous play, with a 32-yard strike for Kittle to open the scoring.

Jennings’ 16-yard touchdown catch extended the 49ers’ lead to 21-0, and the 49ers would have been up 28-0 had a 5-yard Purdy touchdown run not been negated by a Ricky Pearsall penalty would have been made. Instead, the 49ers settled for a 23-yard field goal from Jake Moody.

Defensively, the 49ers were equally dominant, getting sacks from Leonard Floyd (two), Yetur Gross-Matos and Maliek Collins in the first half. Gross-Matos recorded two sacks against Williams in the fourth quarter.

The 49ers’ shutout bid ended on the Bears’ first drive after halftime, although it took them 9 minutes to march 70 yards and finally catch Caleb Williams’ 4-yard touchdown pass to Rome Odunze. When Williams caught Odunze for another touchdown pass with 11:48 left, the 14-yard score (to Ji’Ayir Brown) cut the 49ers’ lead to 31-13.

It was the great performance of the 49ers offense that got this game started. At halftime, Purdy had completions of 23 yards (Guerendo), 33 (Kittle), 20 (Deebo Samuel), 32 (Kittle), 27 (Guerendo), 23 (Kittle), 18 (Kittle), Jennings (16) and Kittle ( 32).

A week ago in the snow in Buffalo, Purdy threw for just 94 yards (11 of 18), which was his lowest total in a start outside of the injury-hit NFC title game of the 2022 season.

It took until 2:36 left in the third quarter for the 49ers to make a climax in the second half: they were granted a fumble recovery on a replay assist from Williams’ easy return pass; Evan Anderson rebounded for the 49ers.