The 49ers had a simple ask after getting sent to Australia: give them a little extra time to get their bodies back on Pacific Time before Week 2. The NFL said no.
San Francisco wanted its Week 2 home game against the Miami Dolphins moved to Monday night so the team would have an extra day to recover from the trip Down Under. Coach Kyle Shanahan said the request was made directly to the league, but it went nowhere.
"We asked very nicely," Shanahan said. "Didn't work."
What stung for the 49ers was that the NFL handed that Monday-night cushion to the Rams instead. Los Angeles will face the New York Giants in Week 2, which gives the Rams an extra day after their own return from Australia.
The 49ers, meanwhile, will host the Dolphins on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET. When asked whether the matchup against a team expected to be among the league’s weakest mattered in the travel planning, Shanahan shut that idea down fast.
"No, that doesn't matter," Shanahan said. "This is the NFL.
Those are setups. You don't ever look at an NFL game like that."
In other words, San Francisco wanted the Monday night slot no matter who was coming to Levi’s Stadium.
The league did at least give the 49ers three straight home games after the Australia trip, with the Dolphins in Week 2, the Cardinals in Week 3 and the Broncos in Week 4. Shanahan, though, has already made it clear he doesn’t see that as much of a benefit.
"I mean, three home games is irrelevant," Shanahan said. "That doesn't mean anything.
It means you're going to have three more road games in December and January. So, that's my answer on three home games."
The two teams are taking very different paths into and out of Melbourne. The 49ers arrived in Australia on Sept. 4 and will have been there for a full week when they kick off against the Rams. The Rams got there Thursday morning local time, and by the time they leave, they’ll have spent only about 30 hours in Melbourne.
That setup could matter twice over: for the game itself, and then again when both teams try to get back on schedule for Week 2. The Rams at least got the Monday-night break. The 49ers didn’t.
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