5 things 49ers must clean up after beating Cowboys in Wild Card

No. 1: 49ers have to cut down on their sloppy play, too

All week long, and perhaps the bulk of the offseason, Cowboys fans and analysts are going to discuss their own team’s gaffes and miscues, many of which played right into the 49ers’ hands.

Those 14 penalties for 89 yards were a collective killer for Dallas, but this doesn’t necessarily mean the Niners played a clean game.

San Francisco was also flagged nine times for 58 yards, which isn’t exactly a total Kyle Shanahan and Co. would like to carry over into the divisional round.

At least there weren’t any pass-interference calls, though.

It’s somewhat understandable the always-present playoff jitters can result in some presnap penalties, yet the fourth-quarter Jimmy Garoppolo quarterback sneak that could have iced the game was negated by Jimmy G not allowing Trent Williams to get set.

A simple mistake. And in the end with the 49ers winning, no harm and no foul.

But, in a parallel world where the Cowboys strike back and win the game after that incident, the fallout against Garoppolo and the Niners would have been insanely immense. Those are the kinds of self-inflicted wounds playoff teams can’t afford to make.

Dallas found that out the hard way. San Francisco doesn’t want to find out the same thing next week.