By MATT BECKER
STATS Senior Writer

After solid victories for both the San Francisco 49ers and
Chicago Bears in Week 4, both teams were looking poised for a
run at the playoffs.

Those postseason aspirations aren't looking as realistic
anymore.

In Mike Singletary's first game as head coach against his former
team, the 49ers look to avoid losing a fifth straight game
Thursday night against the Bears, who are coming off another
embarrassing performance on defense.

With a 35-0 victory over St. Louis on Oct. 4, San Francisco
(3-5) improved to 3-1 and sat alone atop the NFC West.
Singletary's team was clicking on both offense and defense, but
it hasn't won since.

The 49ers, who haven't made the playoffs since 2002, lost 34-27
on Sunday against Tennessee, which got its first road win and
second overall. Alex Smith threw two interceptions in the final
6:24 and three total, fumbled twice and was sacked four times.

Overall, the 49ers committed four turnovers - leading to 24
points for the Titans - and have turned the ball over 11 times
during their four-game skid. They had just two turnovers in
their first four games.

"It's definitely frustrating to be at this point, but we do have
eight games left," Singletary said. "We have to make sure we go
out and play a complete football game without killing ourselves
in the process."

Singletary was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the
1981 draft and played 12 seasons at middle linebacker,
spearheading one of the best defenses in NFL history while
winning a Super Bowl following the 1985 season.

The Hall of Famer insists there are no added emotions for this
game just because he's facing his former organization.
Singletary, who took over for the fired Mike Nolan in October
2008, was the 49ers' assistant head coach/defense the last time
these teams met Oct. 29, 2006, a 41-10 Bears victory.

Chicago's current defense looks nothing like the unit Singletary
once anchored.

The Bears were carved up for 438 yards in Sunday's 41-21 loss to
Arizona, 10 yards fewer than they yielded in a 45-10 defeat at
Cincinnati on Oct. 25.

Chicago allowed Kurt Warner to tie a career high by throwing
five touchdowns and the Cardinals rushed for a season-best 182
yards.

With three losses in four games, the Bears, who haven't been to
the playoffs since 2006, are hardly playing like a team that
opened the year with a 3-1 record following a 48-24 win over
Detroit in Week 4.

"Don't have a lot of reasons to give you why we played that
way," Chicago coach Lovie Smith said after Sunday's defeat. "I
know we're a better football team than that. But of course, our
play didn't say that."

The Bears, who lost star linebacker Brian Urlacher to a
season-ending wrist injury in their opener, were also without
Tommie Harris for virtually all of Sunday's game. The three-time
Pro Bowl defensive tackle slugged Cardinals' guard Deuce Lutui
in the head as they were on the ground, resulting in Harris'
ejection 1:05 into the first quarter.

Harris, who apologized Monday for his actions, could be
suspended by the league.

Regardless of Harris' status for this game, the suddenly
vulnerable Chicago defense, which has given up 514 rushing yards
in its last three games, will likely have some trouble trying to
stop Frank Gore.

The 49ers' star running back has rushed for 174 yards and two
touchdowns on 28 attempts for a 6.2-yard average in two games
this month. He ran for 111 yards on 12 carries at Soldier Field
in 2006.

With Gore leading the ground game, San Francisco needs Smith to
clean up some of the mistakes that plagued him against
Tennessee.

Smith, who took over the starting job at halftime against
Houston on Oct. 25 when Singletary benched Shaun Hill, looked
like a poised NFL veteran at times Sunday and way off at others.

Chicago's Jay Cutler threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns -
all to tight end Greg Olsen - but was intercepted once and
sacked four times Sunday.

Playing behind a shoddy offensive line while trying to find
inexperienced wide receivers that struggle to get open, Cutler
has already been sacked 19 times - eight more than all of last
season with Denver.

"We're 4-4, so we're even with eight to play," said Cutler, who
has 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on the season. "It's not
where we want to be, but it could be worse. We got to pull it
together. We got some tough games coming up and some games that
we got to win immediately, starting Thursday."