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The preseason offers plenty of serious analysis, but it also provides plenty of absurdity. We saw that late in the third quarter of the 49ers-Broncos preseason game.
There are a ton of penalties in preseason play, and special teams in particular offers a ton of them. On one punt, we saw five penalties called. Bradley Pinion punted the ball, and penalties included the following (Broncos: receiving, 49ers: kicking):
Receiving team - holding #46 Dontrell Nelson
Receiving team - holding #81 Steven Scheu
Receiving team - Block in the back #80 Jake Butt
Receiving team - Personal foul #2 Dante Barnett
Kicking team - Holding #18 DeAndre Smelter
The referee, Pete Morelli, recognized the absurdity of the situation, breaking into laughter midway through. At the end, he said, “With all that, it’s an offset.”
I think the 49ers shrugging shoulders emoji summed this all up best. Oh preseason football, you’re so ridiculous.
Preseason ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #DENvsSF pic.twitter.com/i2NXYncFBD
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) August 20, 2017