SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers can’t get out of their own way.
In what’s been a recurring theme for the defense all season long, the secondary gave up some crucial pass interference calls in Sunday night’s crushing 30-18 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
“Devastating feeling, obviously,” cornerback Josh Norman said. “But we got guys in the locker room to correct it.”
On the surface of the box score, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz didn’t have an incredible game in the driving wind and rain. He went 17-for-26 for 150 yards and two touchdowns, but also got a big boost from three defensive pass interference penalties that added up to another 97 yards. Not to mention Norman had a PI call in the first quarter that was declined after Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr. still hauled in a 57-yard catch despite being held twice on his route.
Norman said the 49ers shouldn’t change their aggressiveness when the ball’s in the air, though, even though he opined that the rules tend to favor the offense on 50-50 chances between the receiver and defensive back.
“It’s an offensive league,” Norman said. “The moment you take your stinger away is the moment that you become lax and they got you. For us, we just got to understand that we just got to be better in certain situations like that. The same time, we got to stay with that stinger. That’s what got you here. We just got to continue to be better when the ball is in the air.”
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Sunday night, the 49ers stung themselves.
Emmanuel Moseley’s pass interference call late in the first half put the Colts on the doorstep of the end zone before Wentz rushed in for a one-yard score. Jaquiski Tartt’s pass interference call accounted for 38 yards and let the Colts go down to the 5-yard line before running back Jonathan Taylor punched it in for a second-quarter touchdown.
Those two penalties helped lead directly to 13 points. The Colts won by 12.
It’s not like this is a new problem for the 49ers, who have been plagued with secondary penalties all season long.
“We’re not doing it good enough,” coach Kyle Shanahan said of limiting PI calls. “It’s been a struggle all year. Today was the worst.”
