With 5 picks, 49ers back on track

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Michael Lewis kept the ball from his game-saving interception in the end zone as a gift for his nearly 2-week-old baby girl, Sydney. Considering the San Francisco safety has already endured three concussions this season, the play was something to celebrate.

So was the fact the 49ers finally were back in the win column. They snapped a four-game losing streak thanks to a stellar secondary that doubled its interception total in the process, picking off four passes by Chicago’s Jay Cutler in a 10-6 win over the Bears on Thursday night.

The Niners (4-5) finished with five total picks in their first victory since a 35-0 rout of the Rams on Oct. 4, giving them 11 for the season and eight of those by defensive backs.

Veteran nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin had the other Thursday at the goal line for his first career interception. Franklin also saved the ball and plans to send it to his mother, Chantini Carter, in Johnson City, Tenn. It was still safe in his locker Friday.

Franklin is the only nose tackle in the NFL with an interception this season, and it was the first by a 49ers defensive lineman since September 2008. Franklin, a 317-pounder in his seventh NFL season out of Tennessee, hadn’t made an interception since high school.

“I knew they weren’t running,” Franklin said of his play in the second quarter that spoiled a Chicago drive. “They had run it back-to-back. I was just anticipating. I knew he was going to pass.”

San Francisco had five or more interceptions for the first time since getting six on Sept. 14, 1997, against New Orleans.

“I thought our defense, it did what we focused on,” coach Mike Singletary said Friday. “They did what we talked about all week, and that was creating turnovers.” But it was another subpar offensive performance by 49ers quarterback Alex Smith and Co.

Lewis, Tarell Brown and Mark Roman each registered their first interceptions of the year, while Dashon Goldson had his second. The 49ers’ 11 interceptions are only one shy of their 2008 total.

Brown ran his interception back 51 yards, providing glimpses of the 2,000-yard rusher he once was in high school.

“It feels good. We know that we can get our hands on the ball,” Brown said. “I think we can keep that up. Those guys up front put on so much pressure.”

The Bears had little choice but to pass because of an ineffective ground game, so it was up to San Francisco’s secondary to produce big plays. Chicago was held to 43 yards rushing.