In a playoff atmosphere Sunday night at Levi's Stadium, the Bears' top two 2025 draft picks – receiver Luther Burden III and tight end Colston Loveland – rose to the occasion, combining for 232 yards of offense and two touchdowns.

With receivers DJ Moore and Olamide Zaccheaus being added to the injury report Sunday morning due to illness, on top of Rome Odunze missing a fourth straight contest with a foot injury, the Bears relied on their young playmakers to show up in primetime. It was a moment both Loveland and Burden had been working toward since they were drafted by the Bears back in April.

"It's been great working with Colston," Burden said. "We set goals once we got drafted and when we came here — we wanted to come here and win and bring the city what it's been waiting on."

While the Bears ultimately fell short in a 42-38 loss to the 49ers, quarterback Caleb Williams once again led a strong two-minute drive at the end of the game to give the Bears a chance to win in the final seconds.

Both rookies were called upon in the end-of-game situation, with Burden catching two passes – a 14-yard reception on third-and-10 before gaining another five yards on the next play to reach the San Francisco 26 – and Loveland hauling in a 13-yard completion from Williams on a crucial fourth-and-5.

"It means a lot for sure," Loveland said about him and Burden earning trust in the offense. "I think there's some things out there, some plays we could have made as a whole, but it means a lot. At the end of the day, though, we didn't get the win, so [right now] it doesn't mean much, but whenever our numbers are called, we've gotta go out there and make something happen."

With 138 yards and a touchdown on eight catches, Burden posted the best performance of his young career after missing last week's win versus Green Bay because of an ankle injury he sustained the prior week against Cleveland.

Six of Burden's receptions resulted in gains of 10 or more yards, and four of those went for at least 24 yards.

"It's good to have Luther back, let's put it that way," Williams said. "Getting the ball in his hands, as he's said before, it's a problem when you get the ball in his hands, so just giving him a shot, let him go make plays, give him the best runner ball that I can so he can go and be explosive and be the player he is and why we drafted him here."

The Missouri product got hot late in the first quarter, capping off the Bears' first scoring drive with a 35-yard touchdown reception to even the score at 14-14. On first-and-10, Williams dropped back to the 45-yard line before effortlessly throwing a deep shot to Burden, who outran 49ers safety Ji'Ayir Brown to the back of the end zone.

"I had a clear route," Burden said. "I wasn't supposed to get the ball, but the safety bit down, Caleb gave me a chance and made sure I executed."

One of Burden's most impressive moments was his 14-yard reception in the end-of-game situation. With 1:09 remaining in the game and the Bears facing third-and-10 from the San Francisco 45, Williams dropped back and delivered Burden the ball at the 40-yard line, where the rookie stopped on a dime and changed directions to fake out San Francisco cornerback Chase Lucas and reach the 49ers' 31-yard line for the first down.

"There was a lot of space in the defense," Burden said of his performance. "We were able to connect on a couple plays, and it was big for us."

While Burden led the Bears in receptions Sunday, Loveland was targeted a team-high 10 times, recording six receptions for 94 yards and a score, which came on the drive after Burden's touchdown.

On first-and-10 from the San Francisco 36, the Bears went to a play they had just repped during a walk-thru Sunday morning, which drew the San Francisco defense offside after a hard count from Williams.

"It's something coach added in last night on that play, a hard count to try and get these guys offsides," Williams said. "the guys did a great job with the acting in that sense of the shift we had, getting set, pointing and then from there, the guy jumped offsides. [Center] Drew [Dalman] did a great job, O-line did a great job … in those moments, you know you got the flag. At that point, it's 'Give the guys a shot.'"

With the flag on the ground, the Bears offensive line held up as Williams dropped back and moved to his right before stepping up and firing a deep ball to Loveland, who made a leaping grab in the end zone.

"It was cool," Loveland said of the free play. "That's just some backyard football, running four [verticals] and seeing [Williams] scramble, which he's really good at, and then the timing of it was pretty cool."

The rookie tight end showed up clutch again just before the end of the third quarter, when he caught a 9-yard pass from Williams on fourth-and-5 to sustain the drive, which resulted in a D'Andre Swift touchdown run one play later on the opening play of the fourth period.

With 8:42 left in the fourth quarter, Williams and Loveland connected for another explosive play, this time a 32-yard completion along the left sideline that took the Bears from midfield to the red zone on a drive that ended with a 29-yard field goal from kicker Cairo Santos.

The two touchdowns from Burden and Loveland gave the Bears 13 touchdowns by rookies this season, which is tied for third in the NFL behind only the Browns (18) and Giants (16).

While Burden and Loveland were two of the Bears offense's top performers Sunday night, several other rookies – left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, running back Kyle Monangai and receiver Jahdae Walker – all contributed to the unit's 440-yard performance.

Walker caught two passes for 30 yards, Monangai recorded eight carries for 38 yards and Trapilo made his sixth career start against the 49ers as part of a Bears offensive line that hasn't allowed a sack in two straight games.

As the Bears wrap up the regular season at home against Detroit next Sunday before entering the playoffs as NFC North champions, the rookies will continue to be called upon in crucial moments.

"They're a special group," guard Jonah Jackson told Jeff Joniak on Marquee Sports Network after the game. "Ozzy Trapilo — he's done a fantastic job. He's had a gauntlet of edge rushers and he's doing great. We need them all, and they're no longer rookies anymore."