The Los Angeles Rams, who walked into the 2026 NFL season as overwhelming Super Bowl favorites, got absolutely shellacked by the 49ers in Week 1, 27-7. Seriously, they almost made our reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks an afterthought with all their offseason hype, even after we beat them two out of three times last season. Well, they got their shot to make a statement down in Australia against the 49ers, and while international games can be noisy, the only sound you heard in Melbourne was the loudest of farts coming from the Rams. What a total mess.
Rams’ ‘Superteam’ Super-Flopped Down Under
Other than some early rushing offense dominance against San Francisco’s vulnerable defensive interior, this was a disaster for Sean McVay’s squad. Matthew Stafford looked rough, struggling with accuracy and throwing a bad interception to Renardo Green to offset an early Brock Purdy pick. The real gut punch? Stafford got critically stopped on a 4th and goal sneak at the one-yard line when the score was 17-7 late in the third quarter. That was it. The 49ers unleashed a crushing 99-yard touchdown drive to essentially kill any competitive portion of the game. By the closing minutes, we even saw Stetson Bennett IV snaps instead of Stafford. They arrived late to Melbourne and honestly, they may as well have never boarded the plane at all.
Myles Garrett’s Ghost Performance Has the Division Noticing
And then there’s Myles Garrett. The dude was the prized acquisition of the entire NFL offseason, right? Supposed to make their “superteam” unstoppable. Instead, he did absolutely nothing of consequence against the 49ers offensive line. Nothing! He recorded zero stats. ZERO. No sacks, no tackles, no pressures, no QB hits, zip. Garrett was in and out of the lineup and looked visibly gassed. PFF even noted it was his first game without a pressure since 2018 Week 10. Meanwhile, Brock Purdy wasn’t sacked once, and the 49ers’ rushing attack, split between Christian McCaffrey and Kaelon Black, racked up over 170 yards against LA’s defensive line. Talk about an epic bust for Week 1.
It’s great to see the supposed favorites falter, but we can’t lose sight of the fact that the 49ers looked really good. They’ll be playing the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals over the next two weeks, so they could easily be 3-0 before tougher games against the Denver Broncos and our very own Seahawks to start October. The only down note for them was a potentially serious injury to rookie receiver De’Zhaun Stribling, who was carted off with a non-contact leg injury. Hopefully it’s not an Achilles rupture for the young man. And by the way, while the rest of the West was flopping or flying high, our reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks took care of business, winning 13-10 against the New England Patriots. We’re 1-0, baby! We gotta keep that momentum rolling.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Field Gulls.
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