Harbaugh: “We’ve got to do a better job — coaches, players — of not getting those penalties.”

GLENDALE, AZ. — This is the transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s post-game press conference.

Q: Do you feel like your team lost composure on those penalties?

HARBAUGH: We’ve got to eliminate those.

Q: Did you sense that your team was out of control?

HARBAUGH: The fact is we’ve got to eliminate them.

Q: In the last two games you were ahead and got overtaken. In second halves this season you’ve scored three points so there’s a bit of a pattern. Do you understand what’s going on?

HARBAUGH: No, I don’t. We’ve just got to play better. We’re not playing good enough right now.

Q: Is there a falloff in attention or skill or something in the second half?

HARBAUGH: I can’t put my finger on the things you just said.

Q: How much of a factor were the penalties in the second half?

HARBAUGH: They were factors, yes.

Q: You used a lot of five-wideout sets. Was the idea that you were going to be able to win this game throwing the ball?

HARBAUGH: Yeah, we thought that would contribute to it.

Q: How do you think it worked?

HARBAUGH: At times it worked very well. We did some good things in that personnel group. Overall though, not enough.

Q: How disappointing is it to fall two games behind the Cardinals?

HARBAUGH: There’s a lot of football left. We’ve got to get regrouped in a hurry. We’ve got a lot of good football teams to play.

Q: You looked stunned on the sideline. Personally how do you view this?

HARBAUGH: I want us to do things that are going to help us win games.

Q: Does it seem like games are being called stricter this season?

HARBAUGH: We’ve got to do a better job — coaches, players — of not getting those penalties.

Q: Did you feel any of those penalties were not properly called?

HARBAUGH: No.

Q: Did you receive any explanation on what exactly cause the official to throw a flag on Patrick Willis’ 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty?

HARBAUGH: Just the signal from the official saying roughing the passer.

Q: Cameras caught Anquan Boldin being pretty expressive on the sideline after his penalty, possibly to you. Was there an exchange between you and him?

HARBAUGH: He was expressing his frustration. I was listening to it, but it was already over. We’ve got to do a better job of keeping our composure while the play is going on.

Q: You’ve been outscored 52-3 in the second half this season, which seems to suggest a lack of adjustments at halftime. Is there anything you can put your finger on right now?

HARBAUGH: We’ve got to figure it out.

This article has 24 Comments

  1. Grant, what would say is contributing to these second halves not going well, specifically on offensive? I know the penalties are killing them, but what offensively would you point to as the culprit? Execution? Play calling?

  2. The penalties cost us this game. Critical mistakes on critical drives. That’s on the players. However them not being in the right head space and taking on board their coaching is on the coaches. There seems a certain arrogance amongst some of the position groups as they know they are great and are expecting it to just happen rather than grinding it out. The lack of pass rush – is it scheme or lack of quality personnel? How much an effect is the lack of Harbaugh contract extension having an effect on the players listening/buying in? Mix in the drinking culture and lack of player conditioning etc I think we need a bit more discipline going on. Maybe a few beasting sessions when we lose.

  3. If Harbaugh is losing the team and can’t get the extension he wants, it’s because of these asinine statements he constantly makes. He has not changed a single person on his staff, the wrs and secondary are average every year if not worse. His coordinators can’t even get interviews. His pass offense continues to be miserable after 4 years! Coaches held accountable? If a player had such louts track record they’d be replaced. Why isn’t their ” competition ” for positions coaches? If Eddie d ran this team Kelly would be the hc of this team.
    Same old same old, throw on the d, stop the run makes kap beat you with his arm is the proven way to beat the 49 ers. ( per Ray lewis) duh…… Giants Ravens and seattle had the personnel to do that, but now bears and cardinals too….how pathetic!

  4. Better circle the wagons Jimmy, because Foles is going to shred this defense with the amount of time he’ll be afforded….

  5. I stopped watching this game today- the penalties called are ruining the product. And I am seeing a lot of bad calls against the niners…. and the more I think about it, the more I think it may not be a mistake.

    Let’s look at facts- the Baltimore ravens got rice to have a 2 game suspension due to their owner being friends with Goodell. Kraft/and the Patriots got their cheating destroyed by goodell so no one could ever see it. At the same time, the Saints got crushed for a season for something that was ticky tack (payton getting thrown out because of what the DC set up) And i have seen the raiders get rooked by crazy penalties/crazy rule book interpretations.

    And then the niners get NINE GAME SUSPENSION for a guy who had his second DUI (after taking 5 games off last year) This showed how little pull the niners have.

    Now the penalties- could it be that the NFL just doesn’t like Harbaugh? Is harbaugh getting the Al Davis treatment? If so- maybe it would be better for the niners to get rid of Harbaugh for that alone. He may win, but if his attitude is rubbing people wrong, making them want to hammer players with longer suspensions, and be more strict with penalty calls- it may be best to cut ties and find a “friendly coach” Someone who has a good reputation.

    1. The sentence I neglected to add was tying together the fact that the NFL plays favorites. It is obvious now that being friends with the people in New York provides benefits, (I am now thinking about the nice schedule benefit that the ravens got, where the niners had to travel on a short week to Baltimore to play on a thursday night when nowhere else on the schedule did that happen) Friendships matter more than we initially may have thought in the NFL

      1. The 49ers aren’t supposed to win, but maybe like the The Longest Yard, they do it despite Goodell and his conspiring relationships….

        1. If their personal keep getting in trouble they will be exactly like the team in the “Longest Yard” playing their games in prison. lol.
          Sorry I don’t really believe that but I just could not let that one pass by.

      2. It’s hard to imagine the Niners getting these bs calls (4 straight games now if you count the last NFCCG) if Debartolo is still the owner.

        1. You mean the DeBartolo who was the reason for creating the salary cap? That DeBartolo? The one who was barred from the NFL and had to give the 49ers to his sister. That one? Yea, he had a lot of pull with NFL head quarters.

          1. The thing was- back in the 80’s and 90’s there wasnt too much subjectivity in the play calls- you would have defensive interference calls- but they might have happened once or twice during the whole game (now it seems like defensive holding, interference, illegal contact is called once a series, or at least once a quarter.) I don’t think the officiating could sway a game as much, even though there would be bad calls before instant replay.

          2. Yeah, the one who enabled us to win 5 Trophies. Jesus, show a little respect for one of the greatest owners in sports history.

      3. Most reasonable people try to stay away from conspiracy theories but after the long series of events the last few years one has to consider the possibility. The Rice/Goodell issue is just the tip of the iceberg. The attempted cover ups by both the Ravens and the league do not speak well of their collective integrity. The good ole boy click is alive and well in the NFL. Hey that even sort of rhymes.

  6. Poor, poor, poor, dumb, dumb, dumb.

    This team is so much better than what they perceive to be. From my viewpoint, it starts with Aldon Smith off field behavior costing the team a much needed pass rusher and feel the suspension is justified. Personal fouls, no need for them, actually very selfish, pertaing to A. Bouldin a veteran who should know better when his Defense is struggling and a touch down is necessary to win the game. Offense, what happened to C. Kapernick, so many times he did not pick up the blitz or recognize it. He actually got lucky as he should have been legitimately picked off once today.

    Yes, I would say that injuries played a roll into today’s game, V. Davis, A. Davis and N. Bowman, although SF without those players is still a more superior team. I struggle in my mind if Coach Harbaugh should have sent Bouldin off the field as Singletary one did with Davis.

    Confused, as I know this team is much more capable than this and should be able to win enough game to sustain a playoff birth when A. Smith, N. Bowman will be back, but flagrant fouls will only hurt this team just as today. Time to play smart disciplined football!!!! Play like a champion today.

    I remain a proud 9er fan and am convinced this is a slump and the club will over come this.

    Doc

    1. The missing players while affecting the over all strength of the team are not the reasons they lost. Even the bad call penalties assessed against them. All those things do is affect the overall wiggle room afforded the team between losing and winning. Their is no excuse for the stupid penalties the team committed. The one Boldin penalty alone was a game killer. Does the team serve “Stupid water” on the sidelines to quench the teams thirst?

  7. How ridiculous: head coach looks stunned on sidelines
    (again – what else is new?) and then… gobble-gobble-gobble
    he has a comment about keeping “our” composure..???
    COMPOSE , Coach Harbaw.
    Today we only outscored maybe five teams in the NFL.
    What is your backup plan for QB if Colin remains scoreless
    in the entire second half next week?

  8. The reason Harbaugh and staff are lost is because they don’t have any identity. Offensively, defensively,special teams: who are they?
    The Cards didn’t have to make any huge adjustment in the 2nd half because once again, everyone knew what they were running. When Roman trots out his 4 WR set, guess what, pass. When they trot out 2 WR, maybe pass, mostly likely run. Too predictable and no disguise which leads to a lack of identity.
    The 49ers are not even tough anymore. In fact, they cry about everything.
    This team is not out of it nor should Harbaugh be fired. Way too early. But we will know how good of coach he is next week for sure. If they cannot rectify their undisciplined play 3 weeks in a row, well maybe the fire Harbaugh campaign heats up.

  9. Composure–Yes. I am losing it when i watch the game.This Season is gonna be movie called HOW TO PLAY STUPID.—-or THE CURSE OF CANDLESTICK

    1. It’s not going to get any better, the Eagles next week very explosive offense with a young hot Qb Foley. than we got the Chiefs, the Rams at St.Louis before facing the very good team Broncos team at Denver. We might find ourselves 3-4 or 2-5 after the Broncos game.

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