09/10/26 10:58:00
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09/10 22:56 CDT 49ers rout Rams 27-7 in NFL's first Australia game behind Brock
Purdy's 3 TD passes
49ers rout Rams 27-7 in NFL's first Australia game behind Brock Purdy's 3 TD
passes
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) --- Mike Evans, Demarcus Robinson and Deebo Samuel
caught touchdown passes from Brock Purdy, and the San Francisco 49ers routed
the Los Angeles Rams 27-7 Friday in the first NFL regular-season game in
Australia.
Purdy passed for 205 yards against the Rams' ineffective defense at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of 100,021 fans, the seventh-largest regular
season crowd in NFL history.
Australia's sporting capital reveled in its first real taste of American
football --- and in a dominant win by the 49ers, who had already won many
Aussies' affection by traveling to Melbourne a week earlier than the Rams, who
only boomeranged in on Thursday morning.
A party atmosphere prevailed even with a Friday morning kickoff necessary to
hit the lucrative primetime television audiences in the U.S. The fans got
another memorable chapter in this NFC West rivalry as the 49ers blasted the
preseason Super Bowl favorite Rams with superior play on both sides of the ball.
"It comes down to playing our style of ball and doing what coaches love to do
and running our plays. Obviously you have to respect the guys on the other side
of the ball and we know what they can do," Purdy said. "We still respect them.
We have to play them again later in the year and it will be a good one."
Kyren Williams scored the NFL's first Australian touchdown on a 5-yard rush to
begin the second quarter. but the Rams were a disaster Down Under. Los Angeles
hadn't lost by more than seven points since November 2024.
While Purdy's offense managed enough big plays to win, the San Francisco
defense frustrated NFL MVP Matthew Stafford into a 15-of-25 performance for
just 155 yards. The Niners held the NFL's best offense last season to one
score, even stopping Stafford on a fourth-down quarterback sneak from the San
Francisco 1 in the third quarter.
Reigning AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett was practically
invisible in his Rams debut after missing much of training camp with aches,
recording zero tackles.
Much of the pregame talk for this trip centered around the teams' starkly
differing methods of preparation: The 49ers ingratiated themselves to the local
fans as their body clocks adjusted, while the Rams stayed home until less than
two days before kickoff, keeping their body clocks on California time.
"They outplayed us in every facet. I didn't do nearly a good enough job. This
was a humbling day for us. This will only define us if we allow it," Rams coach
Sean McVay said. "Sometimes sports can humble you and today was one of those
days. I make no excuses. Whether you want to say it was about travel, whatever,
we just weren't good enough."
Both teams started with understandable sluggishness for a 10:35 a.m. kickoff,
but Williams' TD run finally got the crowd cheering. The quarterbacks then
traded interceptions before Purdy shook off a shaky start and found former Rams
receiver Robinson on a 39-yard post route.
San Francisco surged out of halftime, with Samuel's 45-yard kickoff return
leading to Evans' TD catch over new Rams cornerback Jaylen Watson.
The Rams drove deep into the red zone, but after Puka Nacua was ruled down
inches outside the goal line, the 49ers stuffed Stafford.
Up next
The 49ers host Miami on Sunday, Sept. 20.
The Rams host the New York Giants on Monday, Sept. 21.
___
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