Sleepy Rams look little like Super Bowl favorite as they get blasted by 49ers in Australia

Jet lag begins the season 1-0.

The Los Angeles Rams' travel plan to Australia was discussed often this week, and we'll never know for sure how much that contributed to a poor performance in a season-opening 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in front of 100,021 fans at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

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The 49ers deserve credit for executing well and beating the Rams. The 49ers also deserve credit for a plan that had them spend a week in Melbourne acclimating themselves for Thursday's game, which was actually on Friday morning in Australia. The Rams showed up the day before the game and looked very little like the Super Bowl favorite they had been touted to be all offseason. They looked tired.

"Sometimes sports can humble you and today was one of those days," Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters postgame. "I make no excuses. Whether you want to say it's about travel, or whatever, we just weren't good enough in that window. I didn't coach good enough."

The 49ers looked sharper and much more prepared to play. Maybe that was a coincidence. Perhaps if the game was at SoFi Stadium, the result would have been the same. But it's hard to believe that the Rams were at their best after a 16-hour flight and very little time to get acclimated to a 17-hour time difference.

The Rams gambled that they could make their Australia trip a quick one and escape it with a win over a divisional rival. Los Angeles should be fine going forward. At least it won't be playing on the other side of the world again this season.

Rams have a poor start

Much was made of the Rams' decision to land in Australia a day before their game, and it seemed correlated to their disjointed start.

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Matthew Stafford missed passes he routinely makes and threw an uncharacteristic interception to cornerback Renardo Green. He completed just four passes for 65 yards before halftime. Davante Adams didn't have a catch in the first half. Myles Garrett didn't record a sack or even a tackle in the game, though going against 49ers standout left tackle Trent Williams was a reason for that. So was the 49ers' plan of relying on a quick passing game. A revamped Rams secondary gave up a 39-yard touchdown over the middle to Demarcus Robinson.

The 49ers were a playoff team last season and a tough opening opponent, but it was clear the Rams weren't near their peak performance. Whether that was San Francisco forcing mistakes, the Rams' starters not playing a snap in preseason or the long flight to Australia is up for debate. The results spoke for themselves though.

When Mike Evans caught a contested touchdown catch from 2 yards out to give the 49ers a 17-7 lead in the third quarter, the Rams were in trouble. Especially since they seemed in need of a nap.

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49ers take over in second half

The Rams finally put a drive together after Evans' touchdown but were inches short of making it count. Puka Nacua caught a pass on third-and-goal that was just short of the goal line. On fourth-and-goal, 38-year-old Stafford tried a quarterback sneak. It went nowhere and the 49ers took over on downs.

The 49ers were backed up on their 1-yard line, but the Rams couldn't take advantage of that. San Francisco moved right downfield against a defense that had played fairly well but seemed to be out of gas. San Francisco had 76 rushing yards in the third quarter alone. The 49ers had a 99-yard drive that ended with Deebo Samuel Sr. scoring on a 15-yard touchdown catch.

The Rams are projected to have one of the NFL's best defenses and are unlikely to allow another 99-yard drive this season. They also won't be battling the fatigue that comes from flying to the Southern Hemisphere and playing a game a little more than 24 hours later.

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The rout was on after Samuel's touchdown, and it can't all be blamed on the Rams' lethargy. The 49ers had a good game plan, using a short passing game early to neutralize Garrett and the Rams' pass rush. Then when the Rams started to wear down, they hit them with the running game. Christian McCaffrey surprisingly took a backseat to rookie Kaelon Black in the first half — Black had eight first-half touches to seven for McCaffrey — but McCaffrey made his impact in the second half. Both backs helped keep drives going through an effective ground game that put up 174 yards. A San Francisco defense that was chewed up due to injuries last season did very well to limit Stafford and the Rams.

L.A. trailed 27-7 with more than three minutes left when the 49ers missed a field goal, but Stafford was pulled for Stetson Bennett IV.

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The 49ers will get their credit but the reaction will mostly be about the Rams. Their plan for the Australia game will be criticized. Those who were sick of hearing about how good the Rams were over the offseason will gleefully point out how bad they looked in Week 1. After being dominated by a division rival to start what is supposed to be a special season, the Rams were in for a very long flight home.

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