SAN FRANCISCO — The MVP of the game for San Francisco on Thursday night: Jay Cutler.

The Bears’ quarterback, who huffed and puffed and pouted his way from Denver to Chicago in the offseason, threw five interceptions on the night, and in so doing kept the 49ers’ flickering playoff dreams alive with a 10-6 win.
Said Mike Singletary, who watched the Bears march all the way to the San Francisco 12-yard line in the final minutes only to lose the game on Cutler’s final interception: “I’d hate to use the word ’relief.’ But coming up with another word is difficult.”
Singletary’s team definitely had the advantage in energy and enthusiasm to start the game.
Michael Crabtree caught two passes early and beat his chest each time.
The national television cameras made sure they had plenty of shots of Singletary’s owlish eyes on the sideline.
Even the 49ers’ opening drive showed promise. On their first play of the game, Alex Smith threw a deep pass along the sideline to Crabtree. The officials ruled that the rookie’s impressive one-handed snag was made out of bounds, but the play call seemed to send a signal the 49ers were going to be aggressive offensively Thursday night.
But for all that energy, the 49ers couldn’t put points on the board.
That opening drive petered out when Crabtree dropped a pass deep in Chicago territory, and Joe Nedney missed a 39-yard field-goal attempt.
Smith tried to hit Crabtree deep later in the first half, but the Bears picked off the throw. That play, coupled with the oh-so-accurate feeling that the Bears weren’t going to score a lot of points, sent the 49ers into conservative mode.
How conservative? Smith threw for only 118 yards. The 49ers as a team had only 216 yards total offense. Near the end of the game, the 49ers drove to the Chicago 34-yard line ... and punted.
Smith also said the short week of preparation limited both teams’ offenses.
“You really have one practice day — that was Tuesday,” Smith said. “The rest is kind of walk-throughs, meetings and trying to get in as much as you can.”
After Smith’s interception, the 49ers’ offense did just enough not to ruin the gifts Cutler gave San Francisco throughout the night. The 49ers seemed determined to let the Bears make more mistakes than them.
And Chicago obliged.
One of the most self-destructive plays came in the second quarter when Bears wide receiver Devin Hester slipped, and the pass intended for him was picked off by cornerback Tarell Brown, who returned it 51 yards to the Chicago 14-yard line. On the next play, Frank Gore took the handoff and scampered into the end zone. It turned out to be the only touchdown of the game.
In the fourth quarter, safety Mark Roman stepped in front of Bears tight end Kellen Davis and returned Cutler’s pass 27yards. Roman hadn’t had an interception since December 2006; Cutler was the Santa Claus of interceptions Thursday night.
From that point, the 49ers handed the game to Gore. On San Francisco’s final possession, Gore led the offense on an 11-play drive that ate up more than six minutes. Singletary later commented that it was nice to see the tough-nosed offensive philosophy with which the 49ers entered the season finally working.
But even that drive ended with a cautious flourish an Andy Lee punt from the 34-yard line.
With 2:47 remaining, Cutler led the Bears on a 16-play drive that ended in the final seconds when safety Michael Lewis stepped in front of Bears tight end Greg Olsen and came up with Cutler’s final gift.
Lewis said he didn’t over-think the play: “I sat back and waited for the quarterback to throw the ball,” he said.
Good strategy.