Super Bowl favorite Rams are stunned in Melbourne as 49ers put summer of scandal behind them to seal shock win in front of 100,000 fans
The San Francisco 49ers put a turbulent offseason firmly in the rearview mirror on Thursday, stunning the Los Angeles Rams with a dominant 27-7 victory in Melbourne.
Playing in front of 100,021 fans in the NFL’s historic Australian opener, Kyle Shanahan’s side stunned their NFC West rivals with a ruthless display Down Under.
Quarterback Brock Purdy led the charge for San Francisco, completing 25 of 34 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns to quiet any lingering doubts following a drama-filled summer for the franchise – which saw their owner, Jed York, arrested.
In contrast, Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense sputtered under constant pressure from the Niners, during the showdown which started at 10.35am local time.
Stafford completed just 15 of 25 passes for 155 yards and an interception, failing to find the end zone through the air as Los Angeles was held scoreless throughout the entire second half.
Purdy, meanwhile, spread the wealth in key moments, connecting with Demarcus Robinson, Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel for scores as the 49ers cruised to a win.
The San Francisco 49ers put a turbulent offseason firmly in the rearview mirror on Thursday, stunning the Los Angeles Rams with a dominant 27-7 victory in Melbourne
Brock Purdy led the charge, completing 25 of 34 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns
Los Angeles was held scoreless throughout the entire second half during their season opener
Running back Christian McCaffrey added 68 rushing yards on 10 carries alongside rookie back Kaelon Black’s 65 yards during the dominant performance in Melbourne.
The Rams’ lone score came early in the second quarter when Kyren Williams punched in a short touchdown to briefly take a 7-3 lead, before San Francisco responded with 24 unanswered points.
Linebacker Fred Warner anchored San Francisco’s defensive masterclass, racking up a game-high 11 tackles to repeatedly stuff the Rams’ offense.
Kicker Eddy Pineiro sealed the rout in the fourth quarter, drilling a 56-yard field goal to send the favored Rams tumbling to an opening-night defeat Down Under.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for San Francisco after rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling suffered a worrying-looking injury just minutes into his NFL debut.
The San Francisco 49ers have become notorious for their bad injury luck – not helped by wild conspiracy theories about the electrical substation alongside their practice facility – and Stribling is the latest player to be struck down.
The exciting second-round pick out of Ole Miss was playing in his first regular season game against the Rams in Melbourne when he went down despite receiving no contact from any opponent.
Stribling was running a route when he turned away from a defender and immediately felt pain in his left leg, falling to the ground and clutching at the back of his calf.
Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense sputtered under constant pressure from the Niners
Puka Nacua had no luck against the 49ers defensive line at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
The only blemish on the victory was the injury to 49ers rookie wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling
At halftime in the game, he was officially ruled out by the team and will undergo further testing to identify the extent of the injury.
It had been a nightmare offseason for the 49ers, with Shanahan involved in a car crash in July then owner Jed York being arrested in an undercover prostitution sting last month.
They then faced a grueling, 15-hour flight to Australia to play their Week 1 game, seeing things go from bad to worse when defensive tackle Alfred Collins suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier in the week.
Collins tore his patellar tendon during practice on Tuesday, having been lined up as the 49ers’ starting nose tackle in his second season in the league. His injury tests the depth of an already thin defensive line unit.
‘That was a big loss,’ said Shanahan. ‘We’ve lost two D-linemen pretty much for the year after (final roster) cuts, before the first game, which is going to be a huge challenge. I’m hurting for Alfred. It’s real unfortunate for him.’
Meanwhile, away from the football, there were plenty of talking points from the NFC West showdown at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
To kick start the night, NFL fans ripped into the ‘worst rendition ever’ of the Star-Spangled Banner prior to the 49ers-Rams clash after New York-based ‘soft rock’ band Infinity Song took to the stage to perform the national anthem.
Their performance fell flat among viewers watching back on US soil, with hundreds of them swiftly rushing to social media to offer their criticisms.
‘Is this the worst version of the US national anthem ever??,’ one fan wrote on X.
NFL fans ripped into Infinity Song’s rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner before the game
Later, users online noted how far the fans inside the stadium were sat from the action
One fan shared a video of their front row seats, which further riled up fans over the matter
Jonas Brothers perform at half time of the NFL football game between Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday morning in Australia
Shortly after, social media was sent into a frenzy after videos from inside the ground began circulating, showing just how far ‘front row’ fans were from the action.
Due to the size of Melbourne Cricket Ground – and it’s oval shape – fans who had paid a premium price still found themselves a fair distance away from the field.
‘Gotta be the worst front row seats in NFL history,’ one fan wrote online.
Meanwhile, at halftime, fans were left divided as the Jonas Brothers took to the stage to play out some of their hits from years gone by in front of the Melbourne crowd.
‘This Jonas Brothers performance is why we don’t hit quarterbacks anymore,’ podcaster and former Tennessee Titans player Will Compton wrote on X, where he humorously blamed the band for the NFL’s new-age rules at protecting signal callers.
Others were more direct.
‘I’m sorry but we don’t need a Jonas brothers halftime concert in week 1,’ one fan wrote in an X post.
‘This is making a mockery of the game,’ another added. ‘It’s pointless. Treat this like a real regular season game.’