LAKE FOREST, Ill. – It’s fitting that Jay Cutler often wears Crocs to his post-game press conferences. After all, the Bears offense shot itself in the foot so frequently Thursday night in San Francisco that everyone involved probably should wear shoes with holes in them.

“We made a lot of mistakes out there, and that’s not the way you win football games in this league,” right guard Roberto Garza said after the Bears’ 10-6 loss to the 49ers. “We have to correct those. We continue to fight, but when you’re not giving yourself a chance, it’s tough.”

Jay Cutler was intercepted on five of the Bears' final nine possessions in Thursday night's 10-6 loss.

Cutler threw a career-high five interceptions, including two in the red zone. One of his picks was returned 51 yards to the Bears' 14, setting up San Francisco’s only touchdown.

The Bears also drew 10 penalties. Trailing 7-6 late in the third quarter, Earl Bennett’s 40-yard reception to the San Francisco 16 was nullified by an illegal-man-downfield foul. After the 49ers made it 10-6, the Bears were flagged three times on the first six plays on their final possession after taking over at their own 20 with 2:47 to play.

“It was very frustrating, and that’s kind of what we’ve done this year,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. 

“We continue to hurt ourselves with turnovers and penalties and things like that. That hurts us. Every game we do a lot of good things. We’ve got players making plays. We need to quit hurting ourselves, and then the consistency will be where we want it. That’s what we don’t have right now.”

Out of the backfield: The Bears offense was effective in at least one area of the game. With the 49ers defense coming hard after Cutler, running back Matt Forte picked up 37, 31 and 12 yards on three screen passes.

“I guess they were looking for deep passes,” Forte said. “They were rushing up the field. When the defensive line is rushing up the field like that, you throw those screen passes to try to slow them down.”

Forte caught eight passes for a career-high 120 yards, the most receiving yards by a Bears running since Willie Galimore amassed 149 on seven catches on Oct. 15, 1961 against the Baltimore Colts.

On the rebound: After getting ejected from last Sunday’s game on the fourth play from scrimmage for punching Cardinals guard Deuce Lutui, Tommie Harris made his presence felt against the 49ers.

The Bears defensive tackle registered his first sack of the season, forcing San Francisco to settle for a field goal after dropping Alex Smith for a seven-yard loss on third-and-seven on the game’s opening possession. Harris later knifed into the backfield and tackled Frank Gore for a three-yard loss.

The other Devin: Appearing in his third game of the season, wide receiver Devin Aromashodu made his first catch of the year, snaring a 10-yard pass from Cutler on the game’s final possession. Aromashodu’s reception gave the Bears a first down at the San Francisco 12 with :13 remaining.

No happy returns: The Bears entered Thursday night’s game ranked second in the NFL in field position following kickoffs, starting their average at their own 30.6-yard line. But that unit struggled mightily against the 49ers.

Danieal Manning had two 15-yard kickoff returns to the Chicago 18 and 17, while Johnny Knox had a 12-yard return to the Chicago 17. The Bears had failed to reach the 20 on only five of 41 kickoffs in their first eight games.