The Rams’ 27-7 loss to the 49ers in Australia has raised questions about their late arrival, especially after San Francisco arrived a week early.
The Los Angeles Rams entered the 2026 NFL season with enormous expectations. They left the field in Melbourne with plenty of questions.
The Rams were dominated by the San Francisco 49ers, 27-7, in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia. While San Francisco deserves credit for controlling the game, Los Angeles’ preparation has come under intense scrutiny after the two NFC West rivals took dramatically different approaches to the long trip Down Under.
The biggest question now is simple: Should the Rams have followed the 49ers’ lead and arrived in Australia much earlier?
Rams chose a completely different travel strategy
The 49ers arrived in Melbourne roughly a week before kickoff, giving players time to adjust to the massive time-zone difference, practice locally and establish a routine before the historic matchup.
The Rams, meanwhile, arrived just 28 hours before kickoff.
The strategy was intentional. Los Angeles believed that arriving late would allow its players to maintain their body clocks on Los Angeles time rather than spending several days adjusting to Melbourne time. Kickoff in Australia came at a time that corresponded to an afternoon game on the West Coast.
Rams head coach Sean McVay defended the approach before the game, saying the team had researched its options and was comfortable with the plan.
After what happened on the field, however, the decision is inevitably going to receive another look.
49ers looked fresher from the start
San Francisco came out with noticeably more energy and eventually turned the game into a rout.
The 49ers took a 17-7 lead early in the second half and never gave the Rams a realistic opportunity to recover. Brock Purdy threw for 205 yards and three touchdowns, while San Francisco’s defense consistently frustrated Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Stafford finished 15-of-25 for 155 yards, with no touchdown passes and an interception before being replaced late by Stetson Bennett.
The Rams also struggled to sustain drives, converting only two of nine third-down opportunities.
That made the contrast between the teams’ preparation strategies even more striking.
San Francisco spent additional days getting comfortable in Australia. Los Angeles essentially treated the trip as a short visit before immediately playing one of the most unusual games on its schedule.
One decision became a turning point
The Rams actually had an opportunity to change the momentum.
After San Francisco took a 17-7 lead, Los Angeles reached fourth-and-goal from roughly half a yard out. Stafford attempted a quarterback sneak but was stopped short of the goal line.
Instead of cutting into the deficit, the Rams turned the ball over on downs.
The 49ers responded with a stunning 99-yard touchdown drive that effectively broke the game open.
From there, San Francisco controlled the game.
The Rams’ defense, which had started strongly, appeared to lose momentum as the afternoon progressed. The offense never found the rhythm expected from a team that entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations.
Myles Garrett’s debut adds to Rams concerns
The disappointing performance was not limited to Stafford.
Myles Garrett, the blockbuster offseason addition who helped fuel the Rams’ “superteam” expectations, failed to record a statistic in his Los Angeles debut. Garrett had also dealt with a knee issue during training camp, adding another layer to the disappointing performance.
Garrett’s quiet debut was particularly notable because expectations surrounding the Rams’ revamped defense were enormous heading into the season.
The Rams had hoped their collection of stars would immediately make them one of the NFL’s most dominant teams.
Instead, San Francisco exposed significant problems on both sides of the ball.
Was the 49ers’ approach better?
It is impossible to definitively say that the Rams lost because they arrived late.
McVay has not blamed the travel schedule for the defeat, and the Rams themselves had deliberately chosen their approach after researching the challenges associated with the trip. The 49ers also acknowledged before kickoff that the two teams had reached different conclusions about how best to handle the unprecedented situation.
But the result certainly makes San Francisco’s strategy look better in hindsight.
The 49ers arrived early, acclimated to Melbourne and appeared prepared for the unusual kickoff time. The Rams arrived approximately 28 hours before the game and looked out of sync for much of the afternoon.
That does not prove jet lag caused the loss. It does, however, give the Rams plenty to reconsider.
Rams still have time to recover
The good news for Los Angeles is that this was only one game.
The Rams have 16 games remaining after the opening-week loss, and the roster still contains enough elite talent to make a deep playoff run. Aaron Donald also did not travel to Australia as the future Hall of Fame defensive tackle prepares for his highly anticipated return from retirement.
But the opening loss was about more than the final score.
The Rams were expected to make a statement in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia. Instead, the 49ers made the statement for them.
San Francisco showed that preparation, energy and execution mattered in an unprecedented environment.
Now the Rams have a long flight home and an uncomfortable question to consider: Was their decision to arrive in Australia at the last possible moment a smart strategy that simply failed—or a mistake they should have avoided by following the 49ers’ example?
The answer may become clearer as the season progresses.
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