GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The San Francisco 49ers have been outscored in the second half by a combined 52-3 thus far this season.
The meltdowns after halftime are so unlike what fourth-year coach Jim Harbaugh has built in his tenure with the Super Bowl contenders. And the reasons behind the implosions? Even more baffling.
Penalties. A lack of adjustments at the half. More penalties. And, well, overall sloppy, undisciplined play.
And not even Harbaugh comprehends what is going on with his team, which fell to 1-2 in the NFC West after Sunday’s 23-14 loss to the 3-0 Arizona Cardinals.
“No, I don’t [understand],” Harbaugh said. “We’ve just got to play better. We’re not playing good enough right now.”
Thing is, they play lights out in the first half. The Niners have scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions of a game and shocked the Cardinals with a hurry-up offense that featured four- and sometimes five-wideout alignments.
Arizona had no answer for Colin Kaepernick, who equaled a career high with 14 completions in the first half, in 18 attempts, for 116 yards, while also running the ball a career-high nine times in the first half, for 45 yards. And the Niners led 14-6 at intermission.
Then the Cardinals made adjustments. The Niners? Not so much.
“We have to score more,” Kaepernick said, matter-of-factly.
And commit fewer penalties. Or, as receiver Anquan Boldin told it, have the referees call it more evenly.
Last week, the 49ers were flagged 16 times (a high under Harbaugh) for 118 yards, while the Chicago Bears had 10 penalties for 58 yards.
This time the Niners incurred nine penalties for 107 yards; the Cardinals, five for 36 yards.
“They wear black and white,” Boldin said, when asked if he could pinpoint why the 49ers have struggled in the second half.
“It’s been obvious the last two weeks. The amount of calls that have gone against us and the amount of calls that we’ve gotten hasn’t been close. Every week it’s the same thing. We send the tape in, the NFL just reports back, ‘We made a mistake.’ At the same time, the crap is costing us games. At some point, they need to be held accountable.”
Asked if great teams should able to play through such things, Boldin, who owned his own unnecessary roughness penalty for head-butting Tony Jefferson, shrugged.
“You try to,” he said, “but at crucial points in the game like that, how can you?”
Two particularly galling penalties from the Niners’ perspective -- on consecutive plays in the third quarter, and with the 49ers clinging to a 14-13 lead, linebacker Dan Skuta was flagged for unnecessary roughness on his tackle near the head of a sliding Drew Stanton on a second-and-6 play before Patrick Willis drew a roughing-the-passer penalty on Stanton.
The 30 yards in penalties helped set up the Cardinals in their 66 yard, five-play TD drive that gave them a 20-14 lead with 4:39 to go in the third quarter.
“We’ve got to do a better job -- as coaches and players,” a stunned Harbaugh said, “of not getting those penalties.”
Yet, it might just be one sign of deeper problems in the second half.
