An early Los Angeles Rams celebration poking fun at a widely discussed travel debate backfired spectacularly against the 49ers when San Francisco responded with 24 unanswered points to secure a Week 1 win in Melbourne, Australia.
In the days leading up to this season-opening NFC West matchup, the discourse surrounding the game was less about the players on the field, and more about the way they'd get there from the United States. With the game set to take place in Melbourne on Friday morning local time, each team tried a different approach to account for the 17-hour time difference from California (where it was still Thursday afternoon). The Niners flew out of San Francisco last Wednesday to get acclimated to the new time zone and have a full week of practice. The Rams, meanwhile, did not fly in until the day before the game, with the thought of keeping their players' biological clocks on West Coast time.
It became clear that the Week 1 affair would be a referendum on the superior preparation approach, and, at first, it certainly looked like the Rams made the smarter choice. They were dominant early and scored the game's first touchdown. Los Angeles even made fun of the whole debate early in the second quarter after a bad Brock Purdy pick. The whole defense celebrated in the end zone with players taking a nap on the grass.
However, it proved to be a bit early to spike the proverbial football. The Rams followed up with an inexplicable interception of their own, and the Niners drove 86 yards down the field for their first touchdown of the game. From there, things completely fell apart for Los Angeles as the Raheem Morris-led Niners defense kept the Rams from doing anything, and Kyle Shanahan's offense somehow turned Myles Garrett - the biggest acquisition in the NFL this offseason - completely invisible. San Francisco scored 24 straight points, including seven from a 99-yard drive down the field, and even forced two more turnovers.
Linebacker Fred Warner even gave a response of his own, getting a Steph Curry-style night-night celebration off in his first game since fracturing his ankle last season.
#Rams #game #angeles
In the days leading up to this season-opening NFC West matchup, the discourse surrounding the game was less about the players on the field, and more about the way they'd get there from the United States. With the game set to take place in Melbourne on Friday morning local time, each team tried a different approach to account for the 17-hour time difference from California (where it was still Thursday afternoon). The Niners flew out of San Francisco last Wednesday to get acclimated to the new time zone and have a full week of practice. The Rams, meanwhile, did not fly in until the day before the game, with the thought of keeping their players' biological clocks on West Coast time.
It became clear that the Week 1 affair would be a referendum on the superior preparation approach, and, at first, it certainly looked like the Rams made the smarter choice. They were dominant early and scored the game's first touchdown. Los Angeles even made fun of the whole debate early in the second quarter after a bad Brock Purdy pick. The whole defense celebrated in the end zone with players taking a nap on the grass.
However, it proved to be a bit early to spike the proverbial football. The Rams followed up with an inexplicable interception of their own, and the Niners drove 86 yards down the field for their first touchdown of the game. From there, things completely fell apart for Los Angeles as the Raheem Morris-led Niners defense kept the Rams from doing anything, and Kyle Shanahan's offense somehow turned Myles Garrett - the biggest acquisition in the NFL this offseason - completely invisible. San Francisco scored 24 straight points, including seven from a 99-yard drive down the field, and even forced two more turnovers.
Linebacker Fred Warner even gave a response of his own, getting a Steph Curry-style night-night celebration off in his first game since fracturing his ankle last season.
#Rams #game #angeles
1 day ago
