Rams, 49ers seek early control in season-opening showdown in Australia
The NFL could not have scripted a more compelling introduction to Australia: two California rivals, two Super Bowl contenders and one game that will count long after the novelty of playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground wears off.For the Rams and 49ers, Thursday’s season opener is less about exporting football than establishing early control of the NFC West.Seattle begins the season as the defending Super Bowl champion, leaving the Rams and 49ers with no room for a leisurely start.
One of them will return from the longest road trip in league history with a divisional win.The other will spend the flight home confronting immediate questions.The Rams arrive with perhaps the NFL’s most complete roster.
Matthew Stafford is coming off an MVP season, Puka Nacua led the league with 129 receptions and Davante Adams remains one of football’s most dangerous red-zone receivers.Sean McVay can attack with power, play action or spread formations, forcing a defense to defend every blade of grass.San Francisco knows the problem well.
Kyle Shanahan’s team must create pressure without committing extra defenders and exposing its secondary to Stafford.Nick Bosa’s return from a torn ACL changes that equation, even if the 49ers must be measured with his workload.
If Bosa can disrupt Stafford’s timing, the 49ers can turn a potential track meet into the kind of tense, possession-by-possession game these rivals usually play.The Rams’ defensive headline changed Tuesday when Aaron Donald was ruled out and left off the trip.His comeback will wait while the Rams continue ramping him up after two seasons away.
But the Rams hardly arrive defenseless.Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year after recording 23 sacks last season, gives the Rams a game-wrecker capable of changing every protection Shanahan calls.
Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Byron Young and an upgraded secondary make this a formidable unit even without No.99.That puts the burden on Brock Purdy and S...