Niners Nation
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The San Francisco 49ers have a three-game winning streak heading into their bye week. The defense is trending in the right direction, while the offense has been one of the best in the NFL since Week 9—all of this with a special teams unit that ranks No. 1 in the league in hidden points.
Heading into the bye week, are you confident in the direction the team is headed? Trending toward a top 10 unit. Overall, the special teams units are up to 12th in the NFL. They were 16th last week. It wasn’t long ago that they were outside of the top 25.
Please take our surveyOne area where the 49ers have cleaned up their act is in the penalty department.
The 49ers had 111 penalties in 2024. They lost a net of 32 yards, but were dead in penalties that benefited them with only 79. The next closest team had 92. It’s been a different story this year through 13 games.
The 49ers have 67 penalties against them this year, which is fourth-fewest in the NFL. They’d have to average double-digit penalties per game to match last year’s total. On the flip side, they’re up to 13th in penalties that have benefitted them this season at 82. That’s led to a net positive outcome of 69 yards.
The pre-snap penalties have been roughly cut in half. There were 46 last year, and that number is down to 24 so far this season. Last year, the 49ers were heavily penalized, whether they were at home or on the road. This year, most of their issues have happened on the highway. The 49ers have been penalized 45 times on the road compared to only 22 at home.
Here’s how the 49ers stack up penalty-wise compared to the rest of the NFC playoff contenders.
Least penalized NFC playoff contenders, aka the teams that aren’t going to beat themselves:
Rams: 52
Bucs: 65
49ers: 67
Panthers: 71
Lions: 74
Seahawks: 75
Packers: 76
Bears: 91
Eagles: 91
Cowboys: 94
NFC playoff teams benefitting the most from penalties, aka getting the most calls:
Cowboys: 102
Rams: 92
Seahawks: 92
49ers: 82
Panthers: 82
Bucs: 79
Packers: 71
Eagles: 68
Bears: 68
Lions: 67
Overall net yardage from penalties:
Rams: 302
Seahawks: 133
Cowboys: 128
Bucs: 117
49ers: 69
Packers: 54
Panthers: 47
Lions: -60
Eagles: -165
Bears: -287
In a playoff field, the 49ers are not going to beat themselves. That will prove to be beneficial come January.
