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By Morris Phillips

It’s been so long since the 49ers won a road game, winning teammates seemed like they were celebrating together for the first time. In a lot of ways, they were.

Torrey Smith, who caught the game-winning 71-yard pass in overtime, was mobbed by offensive tackle Joe Staley and safety Eric Reid, who was in the end zone so fast after the game’s conclusion it felt like he was on the field for the final play.

“It’s been a year of patience building for me. I’m actually kind of thankful for it because it makes you appreciate the things that happen,” Smith said afterwards.

Smith, the high-profile free agent acquisition from Baltimore, came to San Francisco to make big pass plays with Colin Kaepernick. But that didn’t happen, and Smith stewed along the way, feeling he had the done his part to get the moribund 49ers offense going. As much as anybody, the 26-year old speedster has sacrificed, following his breakout,11-touchdown season with the Ravens by catching just two touchdowns prior to Sunday with the 49ers.

“We didn’t really take too many shots this game,” Smith said, describing the Bears’ defensive strategy cooked up by Vic Fangio, as always, with a premium on limiting big plays. “They were sitting on us. We knew it. And what are we waiting for, let’s go get it. We got a great look. Everything happened the way we wanted it to happen.”

During regulation, the 49ers offense—to be kind—struggled. Smith was a virtual no-show, with one pass catch for five yards. The offensive line had its signature on seven third-down conversions, but the nine third-down failures were more prevalent, especially in the fourth quarter. The run game featuring Shaun Draughn and Travaris Cadet? 36 yards total.

Blaine Gabbert would end up with a merely credible QBR of 69.6, hardly what will be expected going forward if the 26-year old wants to extend his career as a starter in San Francisco, but on this Sunday in blustery Chicago, unexpectedly good enough.

“You really saw kind of the peaks and valleys of NFL football right there,” Gabbert said of the game’s surprising conclusion.

Given the offensive blackout, the 49ers’ focused, effective defensive effort was about to go for naught in the fourth quarter when the Bears pushed across the tie-breaking touchdown with 3:32 remaining. At that point, the Bears and 49ers had gone more than half the game, and all of the second half, without a single point scored. Whatever offense the Gabbert-Draughn-Boldin-Smith quartet could muster seemed to be exhausted.

Then disaster struck for the Bears in the form of Robbie Gould’s missed field goal, and two nightmare gaffes courtesy of safety Adrian Amos. Gould had formed a rock-solid reputation as one of the NFL’s most accurate kickers for more than a decade. Amos, a rookie drafted in the fifth-round from Penn State had a rapid ascent to become the Bears’ starter at free safety in Week 1.

With the 49ers facing 3^rd-and-3 at the Chicago 44-yard line with 1:42 remaining, Gabbert transformed the 49ers rushing output for the day with a near immediate, scrambling run up the middle that went from a 20-yard gainer to a touchdown when Amos slipped in front of Gabbert near the 30-yard line.   Amos well-timed slip came just a fraction of second before Gabbert needed to decide to slide or subject himself to an explosive tackle, freeing the quarterback to gain steam on his Steve Young-like uninterrupted scamper.

Gabbert’s touchdown tied the game at 20, but the Bears appeared to respond with a game-deciding kickoff return.

Deonte Thompson’s 74-yard return and six conservatively-run plays later, Gould was gifted a chance to win it on the last play of regulation with a 36-yard field goal, but his kick was off to the left.

Then after six plays in overtime—three by each team—that gained a very uneventful two yards, the game ended suddenly. After a Bears’ punt, Smith blew down the left side of the field and past Amos who gave up his deep position, and Gabbert got a rare break from the Bears’ pass rush, hitting Smith in stride. The 26-year old passer and the 26-year old pass catcher had fashioned a bit of team history with Smith lifting the ball in victory through the final 12 yards of his run.

“It was set up by all the throws we had underneath early on in the game, all the runs we ran out of that formation,” Gabbert gushed. “It worked perfectly.”

Gabbert hadn’t won a road game as the starting quarterback since 2012. Outside of Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium and his two home bases in Jacksonville and Santa Clara, Gabbert had been 0-13.

Smith hadn’t won a road game in exactly a year, when in he was visiting Miami with the Ravens. And Coach Jim Tomsula finally broke through after losing his first five road coaching assignments.

“To see them in (the locker room) with a smile and enjoying each other that’s why I do what I do,” Tomsula said.

The 49ers visit Cleveland on Sunday where the 2-10 Browns may again turn to Johnny Manziel as their starter.