SANTA CLARA – After three straight losses, an appalling injury record and a deficit in the NFC West standings, the 49ers’ once-promising season appeared to be going up in flames.

However, in the first snaps that quarterback Caleb Williams took in the 38:13 win against the Bears on Sunday afternoon, something else had caught fire.

“It was super hot,” defensive end Leonard Floyd said of the 49ers’ pass rush, which emerged from the embers of Nick Bosa’s three-game absence, constantly pressuring the Bears’ rookie quarterback and helping the team win again, according to a column for the first time since November 10th.

Floyd recorded two of the 49ers’ six team sacks – tying the season high in their Week 4 win over New England – and they reached Williams for the seventh time, resulting in a fumble in San Francisco territory that did not count toward their sack in total.

Without Bosa, the 49ers had hit opposing quarterbacks twice in the last two games – not once last week in Buffalo.

“I wouldn’t say it’s been difficult without him, but it’s obviously easier with him,” Floyd said of Bosa, who has been sidelined since a Week 11 loss to Seattle with left hip injuries and a hip oblique . “I would rather it be easier than harder. But the difference today was that every man in the room did their best. Went out and had great games. From me, from Maliek (Collins), from Jordan (Elliott), just the whole room came out and played hard.”

The 49ers received the opening kickoff, drove up the field and scored within five plays.

By the time the Bears moved the chains for the second time – on their first possession of the third quarter – they were down 24-0, had a gain of nearly 300 yards and had suffered four sacks. Overall, their 162 yards were the fewest allowed by the 49ers all season.

Williams, the first overall pick in this year’s draft, used his athleticism to create some plays and didn’t throw an interception. But the 49ers secondary, which brought Talanoa Hufanga back from injured reserve, was content to support its front seven.

“We just have to do our job on the back end, play good coverage and give our guys enough time to get into the pass rush,” safety Malik Mustapha said. “Caleb is a guy that doesn’t want to turn the ball over a lot, so we knew he was going to take some sacks. We had guys up front chasing us and getting to the ball.”

It’s been a next-man-up season for the 49ers, and Sunday’s win was no exception.

Their pass rush was led by a rookie who spent most of the season on IR, and their only turnover was picked up by a rookie who went undrafted.

In his fourth game back since his knee injury in Week 4, Yeter Gross-Matos had a team-best three times for Williams, including on consecutive fourth-quarter plays. In return, he received Hufanga’s ceremonial kukui nut necklace, which the Tongan safety presents to a teammate after every game.

“You could see how he was superior to some guys, it was great,” said Hufanga, who had been out since Week 5 with torn wrist ligaments. “I told the D-line to take a good look.”

The Bears were in San Francisco territory for only the second time all game and were unable to make good on their threat as San Francisco pressure again caused Williams to collapse and he fumbled behind the line of scrimmage, only for Evan Anderson to pounce on it.

It was one of only two sacks that didn’t come on third down, but the timing proved even more opportune.

“We practiced running to the ball and extra effort,” Anderson said. “So I think it was just the DNA of the 49ers team. It looked like he threw the ball, but when I saw it on the ground I didn’t hear the whistle, so I just jumped on it as a precaution.”

Anderson, an undrafted rookie out of Florida Atlantic, listened to coach Kyle Shanahan, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir and quarterback Brock Purdy more than usual in practice and stressed the importance of their remaining schedule. After three defeats in a row, their season wasn’t over yet. But with another one it could be.

Defensive coach Kris Kocurek also implored Floyd, a veteran in his first year in San Francisco, to be louder at practice.

“I have a lot of experience and have been in difficult situations where we have to win the remaining games. It’s doable, you just need a certain attitude to do it. So that’s what I’ve been preaching about getting the job done,” Floyd said. “…I usually lead with my actions, how I train and how I play. But Coach (Kocurek) challenged me to talk a little more and be louder, and I did it.”