CHICAGO -- The San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears both flubbed terrific opportunities to win a game Sunday. But the 49ers got a second chance, and they prevailed 26-20 on Blaine Gabbert's 71-yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith after 2:10 of overtime.

With the game tied at 20 following Gabbert's 44-yard scramble for a touchdown with 1:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Bears got a 74-yard kickoff return from Deonte Thompson to start their next drive at the 49ers' 28-yard line.

As time expired, however, Robbie Gould, who before the game had made 24 of 27 field goal attempts this season, was wide left on a potentially game-winning 36-yard field goal attempt, his second miss of the second half.

It was not a happy birthday for Gould, who turned 34 Sunday. He missed two field goal attempts in the same game for the second time in a month, something he had done only twice in 10 previous NFL seasons.

"There's no excuse for it," Gould said. "I have a job to do, and I didn't do that today ... Both are the worst kicks I've had all year."

San Francisco went 3-and-out on the first series of overtime, and then, on Chicago's third play from scrimmage, a Jay Cutler pass floated right into the arms of linebacker Corey Lemonier for what looked like an easy interception that would have set the 49ers up for victory.

But Lemonier dropped the ball, giving the Bears what proved only a temporary reprieve. They punted, and on the next play the Bears' secondary lost track of Smith, and lost the game.

Asked what happened, Chicago coach John Fox was succinct.

"I would say (our defense) wasn't well executed," Fox said.

Neither was their offense for much of the game, at least not where it counted. The Bears were across the 50-yard line eight times but had to settle for four field goal attempts and two punts to go with two touchdowns. The 49ers were across the 50 only three times until the winning play.

"We've got to play better offensively," said Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. "We've got a lot of work to do."

Unfortunately for the Bears, that work now must be geared toward next season because their already-slim playoff chances were minimized even more by this loss. Chicago is 5-7 and, remarkably, has only a 1-5 record at home. San Francisco, winning for the first time in six road games, is 4-8.

"We've got a long way to go, and we've got a lot of improving to do," said Jim Tomsula, the 49ers' coach.

Cutler contributed to the Bears' problems by throwing an interception returned for a touchdown in the first quarter, his third pick-6 of the season. His passer rating of 64.2 was his lowest of the season.

Gabbert, now 2-2 as a starter since supplanting Colin Kaepernick, really was not much better. Most of his completions were short tosses; the longest pass play before the winner went for 26 yards to running back Shaun Droughn with most of the yardage coming after the catch. No other San Francisco completion gained more than 12 yards.

Until the winning touchdown, most of the damage Gabbert inflicted on the Bears came with his feet, not his arm. In addition to his touchdown, he had five other runs for 31 yards. He ignited a second-quarter touchdown drive with an eight-yard scramble and ran for 16 yards on two scrambles before his fourth-quarter touchdown.

Gabbert said those short plays, however, contributed to the winner.

"It was set up by the throws we had underneath early in the game, all the runs we ran out of that formation," he said. "I tried to (throw) it early with as much as air as possible, and let him find it when the ball is in the air. It worked out beautifully."

Chicago missed chances early to take control of the game. The 49ers went three-and-out on their first three possessions and finished the first quarter with no first downs and just five yards on offense, but the score was tied, 6-6, because the Bears' offense bogged down in San Francisco territory and settled for field goals, and because Cutler threw the pick-six to Jimmie Ward.

The teams traded second quarter touchdowns, Gould missed a third quarter field goal try and the first 26 minutes of the second half were scoreless until the frantic finish.

NOTES: The 49ers scored a first-quarter touchdown for the first time this season. S Jimmie Ward jumped on QB Jay Cutler's screen pass and returned it 29 yards to the end zone, Cutler's third pick-6 of the season. … The 49ers' first first down came with 12:51 remaining in the second quarter, an eight-yard scramble by QB Blaine Gabbert. ... San Francisco LB Michael Wilhoite (ankle) and TE Vance McDonald (concussion) were lost for the second half and LB Aaron Lynch left midway through the third quarter. ... Bears TE Martellus Bennett was helped off the field with an apparent leg injury in the third quarter but returned to the game.