49ers vs. Colts: 5 key storylines to watch for San Francisco

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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – OCTOBER 21: A penalty flag lays on the field during the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals on October 21, 2012 at Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

No. 3: Curtailing 49ers’ Self-Inflicted Wounds

One could argue the Niners would be 3-1 this season if they were able to avoid so many costly mistakes in a number of different areas.

First, there are the penalties.

San Francisco leads the entire NFL through four weeks with 39 penalties, per NFLPenalties.com, for a total of 308 yards.

Fans may recall the Niners, under former head coach Jim Harbaugh, were also a heavily penalized team. The difference being, though, those 49ers had the talent and ability to simply overmatch most teams, thus reducing the significant impact penalty flags and yardage had.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s bunch can’t say the same.

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In addition to the yellow flags, Shanahan’s wide receivers and tight ends haven’t exactly helped the offense’s cause thus far.

Through Week 4, San Francisco leads the league with 11 dropped passes. Six other teams — the Chicago Bears, the Cleveland Browns, the New Orleans Saints, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars — are tied for second with seven drops.

These are just some of the focused-based and mental errors the Niners are dealing with right now.

And a relatively easy opponent, so to speak, in the Colts should provide an opportunity to proverbially “right the ship.”