The Los Angeles Rams’ international kickoff in Melbourne, Australia, turned into an unexpected thrashing. The Super Bowl favorites flew to Melbourne just 28 hours before the game to try to keep everyone on their usual West Coast biological clocks, unlike the 49ers, who spent a full week settling into Australia. That gamble fell flat in front of 100,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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Los Angeles grabbed an early 7–3 lead before being completely shut out of the game offensively for the last two quarters, with the game ending in a lopsided score of 27-7. San Francisco dominated possession for nearly 34 minutes, keeping the Rams’ offense off the field entirely. During the post-game press conference, Rams players and head coach Sean McVay admitted just how terrible a performance this was. Matthew Stafford himself called his individual performance disappointing and shouldered the blame for the offense’s critical mistakes.
“We didn’t play well enough, obviously. Never got into a rhythm. Only had probably two good drives, to be honest with you, the entire day…So not enough good stuff on offense. We didn’t do the things that we are accustomed to doing; that’s just communicating, operating, being on the same page. Too many times we’re on different pages. That starts with me. I’m the guy that’s communicating all that stuff, so I’ve got to make sure I do a better job, make sure we’re all on the same page, and we can rock and roll out there and go play the game,” Stafford told the reporters after the game.
San Francisco 49ers’ defense smothered the reigning MVP, Matthew Stafford, who completed just 4 passes in 11 attempts in the first half of the game. He finished the game with 15-of-25 passes completed for just 155 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception, marking his lowest yardage total in nearly a year.
“Just disappointed in the way it worked out for us. Obviously didn’t move the ball consistently enough, didn’t put enough points up on the board to give ourselves a chance to be in the game,” Stafford added.
LA’s only productive sequence came on a 41-yard strike to Puka Nacua that set up Kyren Williams’ short touchdown run. Outside of that and their third-quarter goal-line push, drives fizzled out fast. A brutal second-quarter interception by 49ers cornerback Renardo Green on third-and-10 killed another promising drive inside San Francisco territory.
Trailing 17–7 late in the 3rd quarter against their bitter divisional rivals, the Rams were 1 yard away from the 49ers’ goal line. Facing 4th and goal, Sean McVay chose to ignore RBs Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, and instead went ahead with a quarterback sneak play call with 38-year-old Matthew Stafford. The Niners defense stuffed up the center immediately, leaving no way to progress for Stafford, who admitted, “I just got to find a way to get in.”
What’s worse is that on the next possession, Brock Purdy marched the Niners on a crushing 99-yard touchdown drive. The drive ended with Purdy throwing a 15-yard touchdown strike to Deebo Samuel Sr., stretching the scoreline to 24–7 and shutting the door on any potential LA Rams comeback.
Head coach Sean McVay pointed directly to that goal-line sequence as the game’s turning point, noting how the matchup completely flipped once San Francisco went 99 yards. Defensive end Kobie Turner agreed, stating that conceding a length-of-the-field scoring drive after a stop will almost never result in an NFL victory.
Meanwhile, the reigning NFL MVP, Matthew Stafford, dismissed any excuses about the 15-hour-long flight or sitting out of the preseason being the reason behind the team’s performance on the night. He noted that once the game kicks off, they are fully prepared to play football. Now, with an extended 10-day rest period before they face the New York Giants, it’s time for the Los Angeles Rams to regroup and get ready to host the Giants on MNF.