Niner Noise
FanSided

Good, bad and the ugly from 49ers’ Week 5 loss to Colts

By Peter Panacy

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - OCTOBER 08: Marlon Mack #25 of the Indianapolis Colts rushes for a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of a game at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 8, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - OCTOBER 08: Marlon Mack #25 of the Indianapolis Colts rushes for a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of a game at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 8, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – OCTOBER 08: Kyle Shanahan, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, talks to a referee during overtime during the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 8, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – OCTOBER 08: Kyle Shanahan, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, talks to a referee during overtime during the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 8, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images) /

The Ugly

Remember those same problems from which the 49ers have suffered all season?

Well, they haven’t gone away.

San Francisco entered Week 5 leading the NFL in penalties, and it’s likely that continues after the team was flagged an additional 10 times for 77 yards.

Talented teams can overcome hefty amounts of yellow flags, as former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh’s squad used to do. But head coach Kyle Shanahan’s Niners have nowhere near the same level of talent, making these penalties all the more costly.

Third Downs

Third down has been a problem for San Francisco on both offense and defense this season.

Coming into Week 5, the Niners ranked 30th in the NFL with a third-down offensive conversion rate of 30 percent, per TeamRankings.com. And going 4-of-14 on third downs against the Colts (29 percent), will drop that number ever so slightly.

But drop it, nonetheless.

Meanwhile, the 49ers defense allowed the Colts to convert eight third downs on 16 attempts, which is worse than the Niners’ 30th-ranked percentage (46.6 percent) allowed prior to the game.

More from Niner Noise

49ers Have Figured Out How to Lose

San Francisco lost three of its first four games by a combined eight points. Now, after Week 5, the Niners have lost four of their five games this year by 11 points combined.

On one hand, that’s good when lining up the comparisons to 2016.

Yet the 49ers under Kyle Shanahan are replicating the same mistakes we’ve seen over the course of the season. And it’s something the head coach, per Eric Branch of SFGate.com, is even recognizing:

Shanahan’s 49ers have figured out how to lose close games thus far. They’ve yet to figure out how to win, and that’s not speaking in hyperbole.

The inability to close out games at the end (such as Week 2 versus the Seattle Seahawks, Week 3 versus the Los Angeles Rams and now in Weeks 4 and 5 versus the Cardinals and Colts, respectively) speaks to the kinds of growing pains Shanahan and Co. are going through.

Next: 49ers vs. Colts: Full San Francisco Week 5 preview

San Francisco has to learn how to win games. And based off the last five weeks’ action, it has a long way to go to figure this out.