MELBOURNE, Australia - The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Los Angeles Rams in convincing fashion in their season-opener Friday afternoon (Thursday night in the United States), 27-7, at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
After arriving in Australia a week before kickoff, the 49ers looked far more energized than the Super Bowl-favorite Rams, who touched down just more than 24 hours before the game and appeared visibly exhausted. Last year's NFL MVP, Matthew Stafford, looked helpless against a disruptive 49ers defense, while Brock Purdy diced up the opposition that was littered with big-time offseason acquisitions.
Here are immediate takeaways from the 49ers' commanding first win, in front of an announced crowd of 100,021.
Against a Rams defense that added defensive end Myles Garrett and cornerback Trent McDuffie, the 49ers had little trouble. They converted seven of 12 third downs and totaled 379 yards of offense. The ground game in particular was impressive, where San Francisco averaged 5.9 yards per attempt.
Rookie running back Kaelon Black added some zip to San Francisco's offense - and, as an added bonus, took much of the load off of 30-year-old Christian McCaffrey - rushing for 65 yards on 14 attempts. McCaffrey still featured in the offense, touching the ball 15 times, but his services weren't as needed once San Francisco went up 17 points in the third quarter.
#mccaffrey
After arriving in Australia a week before kickoff, the 49ers looked far more energized than the Super Bowl-favorite Rams, who touched down just more than 24 hours before the game and appeared visibly exhausted. Last year's NFL MVP, Matthew Stafford, looked helpless against a disruptive 49ers defense, while Brock Purdy diced up the opposition that was littered with big-time offseason acquisitions.
Here are immediate takeaways from the 49ers' commanding first win, in front of an announced crowd of 100,021.
Against a Rams defense that added defensive end Myles Garrett and cornerback Trent McDuffie, the 49ers had little trouble. They converted seven of 12 third downs and totaled 379 yards of offense. The ground game in particular was impressive, where San Francisco averaged 5.9 yards per attempt.
Rookie running back Kaelon Black added some zip to San Francisco's offense - and, as an added bonus, took much of the load off of 30-year-old Christian McCaffrey - rushing for 65 yards on 14 attempts. McCaffrey still featured in the offense, touching the ball 15 times, but his services weren't as needed once San Francisco went up 17 points in the third quarter.
#mccaffrey
16 hours ago
