Heavy on 49ers San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers have had issues with penalties this year, and now general manager John Lynch is speaking on the issue.

San Francisco is sitting at 5-6 and 4th in the NFC West and has plenty of work to do to make the playoffs. Part of the reason the team is struggling has been their failure to execute.

For Lynch, penalties are a major issue. During an interview with NBC Sports Matt Maiocco, the 49ers GM spoke openly on his concerns.

“I don’t think we’re playing clean,” Lynch said. “When I watch practice, we play very hard. And there’s anyone who challenges the work ethic of this team, our work habits, we’re well coached. For whatever reason, we haven’t been a very disciplined football team, and that goes down to the very end in terms of finishing.”

That being said, Lynch is not losing his optimism. Despite the season not going to plan, Lynch thinks the Niners are still in the hunt and moving forward starts in Buffalo.

“Fortunately, you know, all this has gone bad and we’re one game out of first place in our division,” Lynch said. “You can get focused in the entirety of it and say ‘Well, it’s a real hard schedule and we’re on the road a lot.’ What we’re focused on right now is one team and that’s the Buffalo Bills, and they present plenty of challenges.”

San Francisco Racking Up the Flags

No team can escape the penalty flag. Especially for defenses, who have to be extra careful when defending receivers and tackling quarterbacks. But the NFC West squad is seeing far too much yellow considering their quality.

San Francisco has been penalized 87 times, the 8th-most in the NFL. Further, they average 52 penalty yards per game which is the 12th-highest average in the league.

The most concerning area may be on the offensive line. While Football Database states that the Niners only have 13 false starts, they have committed the fourth-most holding penalties (17.)

Penalties are something every team has to deal with, but killing drives with holds is a major issue. San Francisco is averaging 23.6 PPG, but fans will have to wonder what the average would be with cleaner play.

49ers HC Criticized for Late-Game Management

One word that Lynch uses in his above quote is “finishing.” That coincides with the recent criticism from an anonymous NFL exec, who thinks 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan has struggled in late-game situations.

“It’s a combination of injuries and then Kyle Shanahan’s late-game management, blowing all those leads earlier in the season,” the executive said to The Athletic’s Mike Sando. “They look tired, like Manti Te’o was saying before the season. They had a year like this before (in 2020). I want them to do well because I don’t want to see them get another stud in the draft after a down year.”

Of their 6 losses, 4 have come down to 6 points or less. While Shanahan has accomplished a lot in his tenure in San Francisco, the Niners have had a clear issue with finishing games.

Evan Reier is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers. He previously covered sports for the Montana Standard and was a managing editor for Outsider. More about Evan Reier