Niners Turn Melbourne Into a Beatdown: Rams Get Smoked 27-7 Down Under

MELBOURNE, Australia — The NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia was supposed to be a travel experiment. Instead, it turned into a 27-7 statement by the San Francisco 49ers over the Los Angeles Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

And no, neither coach wanted to hear the jet-lag excuse.

Shanahan, McVay shut down travel talk

Kyle Shanahan knew the question was coming. Seven questions into his postgame news conference, he was asked whether the 49ers’ week-long stay in Melbourne gave them an edge over the Rams, who landed Thursday, played Friday and bounced right after the game.

“Win or lose, I know everybody was going to make a big deal about that for either team,” Shanahan said. “You never know how much that factors into it. You just try to do the best to prepare for three and a half hours. I liked how we prepared, but more importantly I liked how we played.”

Sean McVay wasn’t buying it either.

“I don’t believe that that’s why we didn’t play well enough,” McVay said. “I really don’t. ... I’ll always make decisions that I think are best for the football team. It’s easy in hindsight to be able to say it was a miss, but those are responsibilities that I’ll take.”

Niners flip the switch after sloppy start

Both teams looked messy early. Then San Francisco ripped off 17 straight points and handed the Rams their worst loss since Week 2 of 2024. The Rams also became the first preseason Super Bowl favorite in the past 50 years to lose their season opener by 20 points or more.

With defensive coordinator Raheem Morris in his first game calling the shots, the 49ers’ defense held Los Angeles to its lowest scoring output in a game with Matthew Stafford at quarterback. On offense, Brock Purdy threw three touchdowns, and San Francisco averaged 5.8 yards per carry on 30 attempts.

Melbourne was ‘sick’

The 49ers flew out of San Francisco on Sept. 2, landed in Melbourne on the morning of Sept. 4, and set up shop at the Park Hyatt Hotel. They arranged meeting and film rooms, took over the restaurant with their chefs, and gave players access to a nearby spa with recovery tools like a cold plunge and red light therapy.

When they weren’t grinding, they explored the city: coffee shops, group dinners, and even a haircut for Christian McCaffrey, who was told his hair “looks cracker” — which, he learned, means it looks good.

“Melbourne was sick,” tight end George Kittle said. “I had a great time here. I’m real excited, the fact that we came out early and were here for the whole week, immerse ourselves in Melbourne. We were taken great care of, great hotel, the staff was awesome. We had so much fun drinking coffee and just kind of hanging out for the whole week.”

Receiver Mike Evans added: “It was definitely worth it coming a little bit early. I felt like we got acclimated. ... We didn’t complain. We actually enjoyed being out here in Melbourne.”

The crowd, the songs, the vibe

The announced attendance was 100,021 — the seventh-highest in regular-season NFL history. The crowd sat a bit far from the field, which helped with hearing, but the fans still brought the noise. Purdy and Shanahan especially loved the Australian tradition of fan singalongs during the game.

“It was awesome,” Purdy said. “I thought the energy that the Australians have out here were really cool. They’re passionate about sports. We have heard that from a lot of people, but being out there, looking around, I was like, this is pretty cool, man. It’s pretty special... They had fun with it. So, for us to be able to come here to an amazing country and amazing spot, win, and be able to enjoy Melbourne and the week that we were here with all the people, it was a great experience overall.”

Will the Niners come back?

Maybe. But don’t hold your breath. San Francisco was technically the visitor and doesn’t have international marketing rights in Australia, so any future trip would likely be under similar circumstances. The NFL already has a multiyear agreement to return with teams that do hold rights there, including the Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders.

“It was cool. I would like to come back when I’m not working, though,” Shanahan said. “It seemed awesome. Seemed like a cool place. But it’s tough when you’re working the whole time. ... I like 17 home games in San Francisco. Nothing against Australia, just don’t like to travel.”

Travel debate: settled. Beatdown: delivered. Melbourne: sick.