No jet lag for 49ers as Purdy routs Rams in Australia

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy rushes the ball in the second half against the Rams at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on Friday. | Imagn Images / via Reuters

AFP-JIJI

Sep 11, 2026

MELBOURNE – The San Francisco 49ers thrashed the Los Angeles Rams 27-7 Friday in the NFL’s first-ever regular-season game in Australia, quarterback Brock Purdy throwing for three touchdowns to dismantle this season’s heavily hyped favorites.

Much of the pregame talk had surrounded the two California-based teams’ wildly different approaches for navigating the epic flight and 17-hour time zone difference to Melbourne and its iconic 100,000-capacity cricket stadium. The Rams had jetted in just the morning before.

How far that affected the game will be debated. But reigning MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford and star off-season acquisition Myles Garrett undoubtedly looked sluggish up against their San Francisco counterparts, who arrived a week earlier to acclimatize.

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