Brock Purdy wasted no time making the 49ers look at home in Melbourne.
On the first regular-season NFL game ever played on the continent, Purdy threw three touchdown passes and San Francisco’s defense smothered Matthew Stafford and the Rams in a 27-7 win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The 49ers turned what had been a tight early game into a blowout, stacking up the final 24 points and punctuating it with a goal-line stand plus an 11-play, 99-yard march finished by Purdy’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel early in the fourth quarter.
The Rams briefly held a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter, but that was about as good as it got. After that, Los Angeles never found its footing.
San Francisco’s defense deserves plenty of the credit. The front was pushed around early, but it settled in as the game went on and delivered the kind of stop that can tilt an entire afternoon: the goal-line stand in the third quarter that left the Rams looking out of answers.
Fred Warner was everywhere. The secondary, working under new coordinator Raheem Morris, came up with timely plays, including Renardo Green’s interception and Jack Jones’ pass breakup.
Morris kept Stafford guessing, and the Rams quarterback never developed a reliable second option beyond Puka Nacua.
The Niners still have some cleanup to do. They didn’t record a sack, Nick Bosa is still shaking off the cobwebs, and rookie Romello Height had trouble getting off blocks. Even so, this was a sharp opening test against a team plenty of people viewed as the best in the league.
San Francisco’s next two games are at home against the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals, and 2025 first-round pick Mykel Williams is back Week 5.
For the Rams, almost nothing clicked.
A roster built with big-name additions was supposed to look different, but the offense and defense both fell short of that expectation. Of the newcomers, only Trent McDuffie really stood out, showing up in coverage and against the run. Myles Garrett was quiet in his Rams debut and finished without a sack, while Jaylen Watson had a rough day that included getting beaten badly a few times, including on a Mike Evans touchdown catch.
The problems didn’t stop there. Pass protection broke down.
The tight ends didn’t do much. Davante Adams was a non-factor.
The run defense and overall pass rush both lagged behind what this group showed last year.
There’s debate over whether the Rams were hurt more by flying in just 28 hours before kickoff or by sitting starters in the preseason. Nate Atkins leaned toward the latter, though he also pointed to Sean McVay’s handling of the trip and said it was hard to shake the feeling that the game was treated more like an obligation than an opportunity.
The Rams also have to live with the possibility that this was just an ugly one-off. Atkins’ read is that it probably was, especially given the strange setting: Week 1, halfway around the world, against a rival, with the team apparently trying to preserve body clocks for what comes next.
Still, the response has to come fast. Los Angeles faces the New York Giants on “Monday Night Football,” and the fixes are obvious: Garrett has to make a real impact, the pass rush has to wake up collectively, Stafford and Adams need to find a better connection after Adams managed three catches for 26 yards, and the tight ends need far more involvement than four catches for 31 yards.
On the San Francisco side, one of the quieter but most important developments was the workload split at running back.
The 49ers said all offseason they wanted to ease Christian McCaffrey’s burden, and they meant it. Third-round rookie Kaelon Black got on the field almost immediately, entering on San Francisco’s fifth offensive snap and being in the huddle to start the second series. He ran hard and decisively, and by the end of the day he had more carries than McCaffrey, finishing with 14 for 65 yards to McCaffrey’s 10 for 68 yards.
That’s a very different picture from 2025, when McCaffrey carried the offense in the first half of the season and piled up 413 touches, the most by any NFL player in a season since 2014. Last year, Brian Robinson Jr.’s high-water mark as McCaffrey’s backup was nine carries in a game. Black’s ninth carry came late in the third quarter, on a 14-yard burst for a first down.
The setting in Australia added its own flavor. The 49ers needed about five days to adjust to the 17-hour time difference, according to Kyle Shanahan, but they felt strong in the build-up.
The crowd helped, too. The Melbourne Cricket Ground had jerseys from all 32 NFL teams, but most of the noise and most of the red in the stands belonged to the 49ers, something that was clear from warmups onward.
In Other News...
Rams Suddenly Face A Tight End Problem After Scary Opener Injury
The Rams season opener against the 49ers took an early turn on a familiar kind of problem for Sean McVays offense: losing a tight end in the middle of the game. Davis Allen took a hard hit in the third quarter, was evaluated for a concussion and eventually carted off the field, leaving Los Angeles to sort through the rest of the day without one of its more useful options at the position.
Allens status was listed as questionable to return, and even if the setback proves temporary, it puts a little more weight on the depth chart heading into the next stretch. The Rams will need more from the other tight ends if Allen cant get back on the field soon, especially in an offense that likes to lean on that group for both protection and passing-game versatility. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Face A Brutal Pregame Swing Against San Francisco
The Rams pregame picture for Melbourne just got tougher on one side and a little more complicated on the other. San Francisco tight end George Kittle has been cleared and taken off the injury list, while Los Angeles will be without Aaron Donald, a notable absence for a defense that usually leans on him to change the games rhythm.
Kyle Shanahan has already said Kittle and Nick Bosa will have limited playing time as the 49ers ease them back from major injuries, which adds another layer to a matchup that was never going to be simple. For the Rams, the challenge is obvious enough: face a division rival on a long trip, with one of the leagues most disruptive defenders unavailable and San Francisco getting a key weapon back in the mix. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Donald's Comeback Starts With A Rams Reality Fans Won't Love
Aaron Donald wont be part of the Rams Week 1 group in Australia, a reminder that his return to the field is still in the early stages even after the comeback announcement gave Los Angeles a jolt of optimism. The veteran defensive star did not travel with the team for its game against the 49ers, and the Rams are taking a patient approach as he works back into football shape after coming out of retirement.
For a defense that has long leaned on Donald as its centerpiece, the wait is the reality fans were hoping to avoid, even if it was always part of the plan. Donald last played in the NFL in 2023, and the earliest expectation for his return is Week 2, leaving the Rams to navigate the opener without one of the most important players in franchise history. [Read more 🡒]