Throughout offseason practices, new head coach Jim Tomsula noted that he wanted the 49ers to play crisp, penalty-free football.
The offense has been specifically directed to play at an uptempo pace to avoid delay-of-game penalties that have been costly in recent years.
Yet during the team’s third exhibition game, against the Broncos in Denver Saturday night, the 49ers were anything but crisp and efficient.
San Francisco was penalized 13 times for 113 yards. As Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee reported, the Niners had more penalty yardage than passing yardage (92).
With two weeks to go before Game 1 of the regular season against Minnesota on Sept. 14, Tomsula told the media Sunday that eliminating problems such as too many costly penalties will be a priority.
He called it “sloppiness” and said: “It’s got to stop. We have to clean it up. We just have to fix it.”
Four of those penalties were committed by the embattled offensive line, which looks to be a weak point on the team right now.
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The starting unit not only allowed constant pressure on quarterback Colin Kaepernick vs. the Broncos, but committed four penalties, including three false starts.
After a week in Denver, participating in joint practices with the Broncos before Saturday’s exhibition game, the 49ers return to their Santa Clara headquarters this week to prepare for Thursday night’s final exhibition game, against the San Diego Chargers. Cleaning up the offensive line play, and cutting down on penalties are sure to be a focus of work this week.
