49ers Finish Decade in Fine Fashion : San Francisco: Team record (14-2) is easily best in the league after shutout victory over Bears.

The team of the ‘80s ended the decade with a bang Sunday while the once-mighty Chicago Bears went out with a whimper.

Joe Montana put the cap on a record-breaking regular season as the San Francisco 49ers beat the Bears, 26-0, and set their sights on the first Super Bowl of the ‘90s.

“It’s been an extremely exciting 10 years, no question about it,” rookie Coach George Seifert said after the 49ers (14-2) wrapped up their second-best record ever. No other NFL team won more than 11 games.

“I feel very fortunate to have been part of it,” Seifert said. “The trick now is to keep it going.”

Montana threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Rice and set an NFL season record for highest quarterback rating as the 49ers won their fifth consecutive game and the Bears dropped their sixth straight. Mike Cofer kicked four field goals and won the NFL scoring title with 136 points.

“I think we feel good about what we did today,” Montana said, shrugging off talk of personal achievements. “It took a while to get things going, but our defense just played a heck of a game.”

The 49ers, whose better record was 15-1 in 1984 en route to their second of three Super Bowl championships, will have a week off before playing host to an NFC playoff game against either Philadelphia or the NFC Central champion.

Chicago Coach Mike Ditka vowed the Bears would bounce back after “hitting bottom” with 10 losses in their last 12 games.

“Somewhere along the line we lost our confidence,” Ditka said. “I don’t really believe we’re that bad a football team, although I guess you have to believe that after today.

“It was a bad day and it’s been a sad season, but they come and go. We’ve had a lot of great seasons. . . . If all of a sudden football passed us by in ‘89, and I don’t think it did, then I’d say we change the system. But we just haven’t executed very well.”

Chicago missed the playoffs for the first time since 1983.