49ers Beat Rams 27-7 at the MCG in First NFL Regular-Season Game in Australia
The San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams 27-7 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, winning the first NFL regular-season game played in Australia in front of a crowd of 100,021.
Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes as the 49ers recovered from an early deficit to score 24 unanswered points.
Purdy Takes Control
Neither side started well, the teams combining for three punts across the first four drives. San Francisco led 3-0 at the end of the opening quarter before the Rams found the end zone first, Kyren Williams running in from five yards to put them 7-3 ahead early in the second.
That was as good as it got for Los Angeles. Purdy, who had thrown an interception early, settled and finished with 25 completions from 34 attempts for 205 yards. Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel and Demarcus Robinson each caught touchdowns, and Christian McCaffrey contributed 88 total yards as San Francisco piled up 174 rushing yards.
The 49ers defence forced an interception and a fumble from reigning MVP Matthew Stafford, who completed 15 of 25 passes for 155 yards. Two further Rams drives ended on downs.
Purdy, linebacker Fred Warner and defensive end Nick Bosa were named players of the game and celebrated with meat pies and custom kangaroo coats.
McVay Rejects the Travel Excuse
Attention before kick-off had focused on preparation. The 49ers arrived in Melbourne a week early. The Rams landed 28 hours before kick-off, a decision that drew scrutiny once the result came in.
Sean McVay refused to use it as an explanation. "They outplayed us in every facet. I didn't do nearly a good enough job. This is a humbling day for us," he said. "I don't believe [the late arrival] is why we didn't play well enough, I really don't."
He added that it was easy to call it a miss in hindsight and that he would take responsibility for the decision.
The Rams had entered the season with heavy expectation after an aggressive offseason that brought in reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and saw Aaron Donald come out of retirement. Donald was ruled out of Week 1.
A Statement Crowd
The attendance figure is one the NFL will reference for years, a sold-out MCG for a mid-morning weekday kick-off scheduled to suit US Thursday-night primetime. The game was streamed on Netflix.
Not everything went smoothly. Some spectators in front-row seats complained about sightlines at a stadium built for cricket and Australian rules football, an inevitable consequence of laying a rectangular field inside an oval ground.
The scheduling was unusual too. Kick-off came mid-morning on a weekday in Melbourne so the game could land in the Thursday night slot in the United States, and the ground still filled.
The Melbourne fixture is one of nine international games the NFL is staging this season across four continents, with matches also scheduled in Munich, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and Paris.
