The San Francisco 49ers treated the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia like a full-scale operation, and the payoff was impossible to miss.
By the time they took the field in Melbourne, they had already spent about a week in the city, getting used to the time change, shaking off the flight and settling into their routine. The Los Angeles Rams, by contrast, stayed in California until arriving in Australia just more than one day before kickoff. Once the game started, that difference showed up fast.
San Francisco rolled to a 27-7 win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of 100,021 fans, the seventh-largest crowd ever for a regular-season NFL game, according to Reuters. The 49ers scored the final 24 points and never let the Rams get back into the fight.
Brock Purdy was sharp after an early mistake, finishing 25 of 34 for 205 yards with three touchdown passes and one interception. He connected with Demarcus Robinson, Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel, while San Francisco’s ground game added 174 rushing yards. That balance let Kyle Shanahan’s offense control the pace and keep a loaded Rams defense on its heels.
The 49ers were down 7-3 early in the second quarter, but that was as close as Los Angeles would get. Matthew Stafford went 15 of 25 for 155 yards, and the Rams finished just 2-for-9 on third down. Their lone touchdown came on a 5-yard run by Kyren Williams.
One of the biggest moments came late in the third quarter, when San Francisco slammed the door on a fourth-and-goal quarterback sneak from Stafford inside the 1-yard line. Purdy then led a 99-yard touchdown drive, and from there the Rams never looked comfortable again.
By the fourth quarter, Los Angeles looked spent and stuck. Sean McVay did not point to the travel plan as the reason for the loss, but he said any criticism of the decision would land on him.
It’s hard to avoid that conversation after a result like this. Teams already have to adjust heavily for games in London or Germany. Australia is a different beast altogether, with the flight and time-zone change creating a much bigger disruption.
The 49ers embraced that reality and built their week around it. They had time to recover, practice and get familiar with Melbourne, and they also connected with a crowd that was heavily behind them even though the Rams were the designated home team.
Los Angeles tried to protect its usual routine by staying home as long as possible. That may have kept the Rams closer to U.S. time on paper, but after this performance, it’s a strategy that will be tough for other teams to copy.
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Rams Could Be Dealing With More Fallout Than Just This Loss
The Rams left Australia with more than a lopsided loss, and Tyler Davis roughing-the-passer penalty is now part of the conversation too. On a night when San Francisco handled Los Angeles 27-7 in the NFLs first game played in Australia, the call on Davis stood out for the way it came after helmet-to-helmet contact with Brock Purdy and added another jolt to an already frustrating trip.
What happens next could matter just as much as the final score, because the NFL is reviewing the play for possible additional discipline and fines. For a Rams team that already has plenty to sort through after getting pushed around by a division rival on a global stage, the concern now is whether one snap turns into a bigger setback once the league finishes its review. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Fans Are Crushing Sean McVay Over One Goal Line Call
The Rams had a golden chance at the 1-yard line in a fourth-and-goal spot, only to come away empty when Matthew Stafford was sent on a quarterback sneak that did not get into the end zone. Sean McVay later acknowledged the missed chance was a turning point in the game, and Stafford confirmed the sneak was the called play, which only sharpened the scrutiny around the decision.
For a coach who usually earns trust with his sequencing and situational feel, this was the sort of call that fans circle immediately, especially given Staffords long track record as a passer rather than a runner. The debate now is less about the failed snap of a play than about why the Rams chose that look in such a high-leverage moment, and whether it was the kind of gamble that cost them when they could least afford it. [Read more 🡒]
Fred Warner Just Added To Rams Frustration After Australia Loss
The Rams trip to Australia already had the feel of a scheduling test, and the aftermath has only sharpened the conversation around how they handled it. Los Angeles landed just over 24 hours before kickoff, a much tighter window than the 49ers, who were in place a week early, and the difference showed in a game where the Rams never found much rhythm on offense.
Fred Warner added a little more sting to the discussion afterward by pointing to that abbreviated arrival as a possible factor in the Rams struggles. Matthew Stafford had his worst passer rating as a starter, while San Francisco got the steadier side of the matchup it wanted behind Brock Purdy and a productive run game, leaving the Rams to sort through both the loss and the questions that came with the travel. [Read more 🡒]