Rams finally join 49ers for NFL game in Australia
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The longest road trip in NFL history has brought the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams to Australia’s sports capital for a season opener in front of more than 100,000 football-hungry fans packed into the Southern Hemisphere’s largest stadium.
The NFC West rivals are playing Australia’s first NFL game, and the starkly differing ways in which they made this epic journey have attracted almost as much attention as the two star-studded rosters preparing to put on a show.
The 49ers have been Down Under for more than a week, adjusting their body clocks in the traditional manner and winning over thousands of Aussie fans who appreciate their commitment to the historic moment.
The Rams were only scheduled to arrive in Melbourne around dawn Thursday, roughly 28 hours before the Friday morning kickoff that’s necessary to play the game Thursday night in prime time in the U.S. That’s because head coach Sean McVay is convinced they can thwart jet lag and optimize their game readiness by staying home on California time.
Both teams agree this contrast in preparation is not a referendum on the best way to handle a pair of 16-hour flights with a football game in between — even if the rest of the world might see it that way after the final whistle.
“I’m sure it will be a good case study for anybody else in the future to sit there and overthink which one helped or not, but the real thing that’s going to (win) this game is who plays better football,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “There’s too many variables that go into this stuff with 53 guys on each team, with 3 1/2 hours of football, for me to overthink or say anything that gives one team a big advantage over the other.”
Instead, this game is primarily a difficult early test for both the Super Bowl favorite Rams and the talent-laden 49ers, who also intend to be a title challenger. The coaching staffs and veteran players all know each other thoroughly after a decade of competition between Shanahan and McVay, who are both constantly looking for an edge.
“I don’t think there’s any right way to do it,” said defensive end Myles Garrett, who will make his Rams debut in Australia. “They have a plan, and I’m sure they consulted different teams and people to find out a way to combat jet lag and such long travel. We’ve done the same thing. I think we’re both riding our methodologies.”
Garrett will be joined by star cornerback Trent McDuffie and cornerback Jaylen Watson in their debuts with Los Angeles’ revamped defense.
But Garrett will not be joined at the MCG by Aaron Donald, who ended his 2 1/2-year retirement late last month. The Rams decided the 35-year-old Donald will stay home as he ramps up deliberately for his return — and that’s a beacon of hope for Shanahan, who was sure his old friend McVay would bring Donald to Australia.
“I’ve never been more excited to be wrong about something,” Shanahan said.
The 49ers expect to have veteran stars Nick Bosa and George Kittle in their lineup after lengthy injury recoveries, but Shanahan isn’t sure how much they’ll play.