49ers back in top 5 of teams with most penalties in NFL

The 49ers have struggled with penalties this season, and after a debacle against the Chiefs in Week 7, they’re back within the top five.

If you’ve heard this before, raise your hand: San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has had more problems with his teams committing penalties than he’s been able to avoid them.

A year ago, the Niners seemed to be committing defensive pass interference and holding on nearly every call, which probably made for an easy decision by Shanahan and general manager John Lynch not to re-sign cornerback Josh Norman once the season concluded.

However, as has been the case for much of San Francisco’s 3-4 start to the 2022 season, one problem is seemingly replaced by another.

The 49ers just got pummelled by the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7, losing a stinker of a matchup by a score of 44-23 in which KC completely outclassed and outmeasured the Niners at every turn.

And while Kansas City had its own issues in the penalty-flag department, San Francisco was somehow worse.

Much worse.

The 49ers ended up committing 10 penalties for 80 yards. And while the Chiefs were flagged eight times for 84 yards, all one needs to do is look at their No. 1-ranked scoring offense in contrast with the final score to determine that flags weren’t a problem for head coach Andy Reid.

They were for Shanahan, though.

49ers are again top 5 in NFL penalties after Week 7 loss

Even when the Niners have been the clear-cut better team, such as the lopsided win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 5, Shanahan’s squad was still hit with a whopping nine penalties for 50 yards.

An undisciplined and poorly coached Panthers team, one that fired head coach Matt Rhule the following day, was flagged five times for 33 yards.

Now, at the conclusion of Week 7 and heading into Week 8, San Francisco is now tied for the fifth-most accepted penalties against with 48, joining the New York Jets, New York Giants and Miami Dolphins in that category.

Only the Denver Broncos (58), Seattle Seahawks (57), New Orleans Saints (52) and Dallas Cowboys (49) have more.

Even more troubling is the fact the 49ers have the fourth-most presnap penalties (20), and they trail both the Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers by only one such infraction for second place on that not-so-great-to-be-on list.

Poor discipline? Bad coaching by Shanahan and his staff?

It’s hard to pin it on one thing, but it’s a common problem that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.