Late during the 49ers' narrow loss to the Bears on Sunday, a fracas broke out when Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky took a late hit from 49ers safety Marcell Harris near the Bears' sideline. The end result? The ejection of Bears receivers Anthony Miller and Josh Bellamy, and 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman.

After the game, Sherman defended his actions.

"These are my guys," Sherman said, per ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner. "I don't care at the end of the day what the deal is -- you're gonna do all that and you let him go. And it took too long for them to let him go. So I went in there to grab him, and they continued to pull and jerk and grab on me. And I'm a grown man with kids; I don't care about any of that. And at the end of the day, they're gonna get punished for it. I'm a grown man; you don't grab, pull on me -- I don't put my hands on you, you don't put your hands on me. You put your hands on me, you're gonna feel me.

"I felt like they went over the top, and I responded with over-the-top."

Take a look:

Meanwhile, Harris defended the hit that sparked the fight, saying he tried to pull up.

"I wasn't going out for him," Harris said. "I knew what comes with penalties and I wasn't trying to give my team a big penalty in that moment of the game. Obviously, you can see what happened. I felt like I laid up on him."

There's no doubt the hit warranted the flag regardless of Harris' intent. Trubisky clearly gave himself up. And Harris clearly hit him late.

In slow motion, however, you can kinda, maybe, sorta see what Harris is talking about? Again, there's no doubt the hit is late. He shouldn't even have initiated the hit. But he might've been trying to pull his body back as he went to the ground. It's hard to tell, because judging intent is always difficult. 

via Gfycat

After the game, some Bears players insisted the hit was dirty, but Bears coach Matt Nagy said he didn't think it was "intentional."

It's easy to understand both sides. The hit happened right in front of the Bears. They're already guaranteed a playoff spot, so the absolute one thing they can't afford in the final weeks of the season is an an injury to a key player. Despite Trubisky's inconsistencies this season, he's still one of their most important players -- if not their most important player. Earlier this season, the Bears saw Trubisky suffer a shoulder injury on an illegal hit that forced him to miss two games. Most teams would respond the way the Bears did.

Sherman was also defending his teammate, who was mostly surrounded by Bears. Was he supposed to just stand there and watch as the Bears went after his teammate? That said, it probably would've been better if Sherman hadn't gone so far as to get ejected, but you can say the same about Miller and Bellamy for the Bears. 

Kyle Shanahan didn't sound like he entirely disapproved of Sherman's actions.

"It was very clear to me he was trying to get his brother's back and I love for guys to do that as much as they can," Shanahan said. "It's definitely better when they do as much as they can and they don't get ejected."

Here's the good news: Trubisky escaped an injury as the Bears try to steal the No. 2 seed away from the Rams and mount a deep postseason run. Also good news: During the skirmish, you can see Bears guard Kyle Long spring into action. Long, who hasn't played since Week 8, practiced in the week leading up to Sunday's game. Long, a three-time Pro Bowler, would be a huge addition ahead of the playoffs for the Bears.