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CHICAGO -- Somebody has to win.In a battle between two last-place teams, the San Francisco 49ers (1-10) will visit the Chicago Bears (2-9) on Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field. The clubs have combined for one win -- yes, one -- in the past eight weeks.Yet as strange as it sounds, the game carries significance heading into 2017. Both teams are on track to receive top-five picks in the NFL draft, and this weekends matchup could help determine the order of selection.Naturally, players on both sides do not want to hear about how a loss might improve their teams draft position. They are starved for a victory, and many second- and third-stringers who are now in the lineup know that the final five weeks of the regular season will serve as an audition tape as they look for jobs next year.One player who could benefit the most from a strong performance this week is Bears quarterback Matt Barkley. The 26 year old faced an uncertain future when the Arizona Cardinals released him at the end of training camp, but he has found opportunity in Chicago after injuries to Jay Cutler, Brian Hoyer and Connor Shaw.Barkley made his first NFL start last week against the Tennessee Titans and likely will be under center once again this week. He completed 28 of 54 passes for 316 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions and nearly engineered a fourth-quarter comeback before the Bears final drive stalled inside the Titans 10-yard line.Moving on from here, (we know) that we can win, that we have guys on this team that can win games, said Barkley, a former college standout at USC. Just making sure that we dont shoot ourselves in the foot, I think thats the goal from here on out.The same could be said for the 49ers.On offense, San Francisco has played much better in recent weeks thanks to the re-emergence of quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The outspoken 29 year old continues to make headlines for his non-football actions, and now he is creating a buzz with his performance on the field. In four starts in November, he passed for 1,110 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions for a 96.0 rating. He scrambled 29 times for 223 yards and a touchdown.I feel like Im getting more and more comfortable in this offense, Kapernick told the San Francisco Chronicle this week. Ultimately, I think thats what it comes down to for a quarterback. Getting comfortable in an offense, really getting your feet settled in, getting that foundation, where you can go out and just play freely. This offense has been great for me in that way.Against a short-handed Bears defense, Kaepernick could thrive. Chicago will be without starting linebackers Jerrell Freeman (suspension) and Danny Trevathan (knee injury), which means that rookie fourth-round draft pick Nick Kwiatkoski and 2015 undrafted free agent John Timu are likely to start in the middle of the 3-4 scheme.The 49ers have averaged 20.7 points per game, which ranks 22nd in the league. The Bears rank similarly on the opposite side of the ball as they have allowed 24.0 points per game, which ranks 18th.The numbers are much more difficult to predict this week when the Bears have the ball. Chicago has averaged 16.2 points per game, which is second-to-last in the league. The Bears have scored 17 points or fewer in all but three games this season, and their highest output for the season is 23 points against the Colts.However, as poorly as the Bears offense has performed, the 49ers defense has been just as bad. San Francisco has allowed 31.3 points per game, which is last in the league. The injury-riddled defensive unit, which remains without key players such as linebacker NaVorro Bowman (Achilles) and safety Eric Reid (biceps/injured reserve), has allowed 40-plus points three times this season and has given up 30-plus points a whopping eight times in 11 games.This seasons ugliness combined with the dismissal of Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich led some to speculate that 49ers head coach Chip Kelly might be interested in returning to his previous position in the college ranks. But Kelly told reporters this week that he had no interest in going back to Eugene.I havent talked to a college since Ive been in the NFL, and thats not my goal, Kelly said to the San Francisco Chronicle. My goal is to be the head coach of the 49ers. Thats what Im going to do. It surprises me that it continues to be a new story. Its been the same story since I left four years ago. Im not looking to go back, and thats what Ive always said.Wholesale Jerseys For Sale . 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Clearance NFL Shop .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win.A day after the death of golf legend Arnold Palmer, his friends and some of the sports greatest players had plenty of warm memories to share of the man nicknamed The King.Tiger Woods fondly recalled the time Palmer briefly made him ineligible to compete collegiately while at Stanford.I went to dinner with Arnold, and Arnold ends up picking up the tab; obviously, you know, Im a college student, Woods told the Golf Channel. So Arnold picks up the tab; well, I get declared ineligible. So, Im at the All-American in El Paso. And so I fly there as a person ineligible -- I wasnt allowed to play a practice round. And so I had to write a $25 check to Arnold, he had to cash it, he then had to fax the copy that it was cashed to the [NCAA] for me to lift up my so-called violation. And so, it was a running joke for over 20 years -- every time Id see him, Id say, You still owe me 25 bucks.Woods said the nonstop needling between the two was one of his favorite parts of his friendship with Palmer.Jack Nicklaus said he enjoyed a decadeslong friendship with Palmer that flourished despite the fact that we loved beating each other.That competitive camaraderie began back in 1958.The first time I met Arnold was 1958 ... and we started off on the first tee and we had a driving contest, and I won the driving contest, Nicklaus said Monday on SportsCenter. We finished the round, and Arnold shot 63 -- I think I shot 67 or something. I never thought much about it at that time, but every time after that, we talked about the first time we met, and I said, Yeah, I out-drove you there, and he said, Yeah, but I shot 63 and you shot 67 -- I got ya. That was when I was 18 years old..dddddddddddd.Both Woods and Nicklaus also recalled fondly how kind and generous Palmer was to them.Hes been one of those people that I could always turn to, Woods said. Theres not a lot of people you can pick up the phone and talk to and they can change your life. Hes one of those guys.Nicklaus experienced Palmers on-course kindness firsthand.The first time that we really played was at Phoenix in 1962; that was the first time we ever played in a tournament and that was my first year on tour, Nicklaus said. And Arnold treated me like a young kid coming up and he sort of took me under his wing. ... We walked off the 17th green on the last round, and he put his arm around my shoulder -- and he was gonna win the tournament, he won by 12 shots -- and he said, OK, take your time, just relax, you can birdie this last hole and finish second. Which I did, and I thought that was pretty nice of a guy to do that.And while Nicklaus acknowledged their competitive rivalry would begin later that same year, it never became a source of animosity, at least not between the two men.All of a sudden, [the 1962 U.S. Open] was the start of our rivalry, the start of, I guess, you might say, my fight with Arnolds friends, or Arnolds fans. The one thing about that: I never had to fight him. You may have always had to fight his fans, but you never had to fight him, Nicklaus said. Arnold was always a friend, we always loved going out and trying to beat each other. ... It was a rivalry, I think, we both enjoyed. It was competitive, it was fantastic. ' ' '