SAN FRANCISCO - In the future we're destined to have pro football eight days a week. It's unavoidable, like death and taxes. Fumbles, interceptions, holding penalties by the hour.

But right now it's only Sunday, Monday and, had we forgotten, Thursday night, that series now restarted to the delight of NFL Network if not the game's purists.

The San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears each played, and lost, Sunday, and then four days later, they were forced to face each other by the side of San Francisco Bay, two not very good teams offering a lot of not very good football.

The Niners won,10-6, or in truth the Bears lost. Whether it was the lack of preparation or the simple fact these two franchises, once at the top, are now in the lower echelons and wouldn't be effective if they had two months to prepare, the offenses were offensive.

Jay Cutler, the Bears quarterback, the guy who got himself traded from the Denver Broncos because his feelings were hurt, was terrible. Maybe worse than that. Which is the reason the 49ers won for the first time in five games.

Cutler threw 52 passes. Of those, 29 were completed for 307 yards. That's not bad. Of those, five were intercepted. That's depressing. That's defeating. Five turnovers.

"I have to apologize to the defense,'' said Cutler. He ought to apologize to management, who met his wishes in providing a change of locale.

He's now thrown 17 interceptions in nine games this season, including five in this game, four in the opener against Green Bay and three against Cincinnati.

Not for 47 years, since 1962, had a Bears quarterback thrown four interceptions or more in two games the same season, not since a man named Bill Wade.

Bears fans couldn't wait to get rid of a quarterback named Rex Grossman, even though he led them to the Super Bowl. They're rid of him.

Jay Cutler didn't like it because the Broncos in the offseason made an attempt to trade for Matt Cassel. Cutler wouldn't even discuss the issue with new Denver coach Josh McDaniels. Finally, the Broncos sent him to Chicago.

Lucky Denver. Unfortunate Chicago.

"An interception is an interception to me,'' was the observation of Bears coach Lovie Smith when asked if the throws were forced. "Jay is trying to make a play on every one, but you just have to have better judgment on some of them, especially the ones in the end zone.''

He had two of those, one in the second quarter, from the one, ending an 18-play drive. Eighteen plays, 88 yards. Six minutes. No points.

The other came on the game's final play, on second-and-10 from the 12 with eight seconds left. Also 88 yards, 16 plays, no points.

No wonder the 49ers, with only 216 yards total offense compared to 350 for the Bears, were winners. No wonder the 49ers had the only touchdown in a game which compensated for a lack of scoring with a degree of excitement.

At the end, 69,732 fans at Candlestick Park were chanting, shouting, screaming as if the game meant something. What it meant was Thursday night football has arrived.

Chicago was in the Super Bowl only three years ago. The Bears are in the dumpster now. They're 4-5. "Sure we can make the playoffs,'' said Lovie Smith. "Five losses won't keep you out of the playoffs.''

Five interceptions a game will.

"I think it knocks you back a few steps when you throw that many interceptions,'' conceded Smith when asked what the mistakes would do to Cutler's confidence. "Yes, it hurts you. Jay realizes what that did for the team.''

In San Francisco, the faithful were concerned what some boasting by Niners tight end Vernon Davis might do to the team. Davis predicted the Niners would "destroy'' the Bears' defensive line. It was a gimmick, he said, to rile up his teammates, not Chicago.

Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye confronted Davis during warm-ups, protecting his honor as it were. Child's stuff. The 49ers didn't destroy the Bears. Cutler destroyed the Bears.

"They didn't have any surprises,'' said Cutler. "We just didn't execute. We saw everything coming.''

And going. Into the hands of the Niners defensive backs. "I don't,'' said Cutler when asked for an explanation.

He'd better find one. Four interceptions one game. Five in another. That's dreadful. That's fatal.

"It's hard to win a football game,'' said Lovie Smith, "when you have five turnovers.''

On the first Thursday night game of 2009, it was not hard, it was impossible.