The Los Angeles getting hyped up throughout the offseason in Week 1. in Australia, losing an important NFC West divisional matchup to start the new season. Now the Rams find themselves battling from behind after entering the season as Super Bowl favorites.
The Rams were not a complete disaster in Australia, but neither side of the ball ever seemed to lock in. So what exactly went wrong in this one?
Here are some of the Rams who were most to blame for Thursday’s embarrassing Week 1 loss against the 49ers.
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Matthew Stafford never looked comfortable against resurgent 49ers defense
The legendary quarterback never looked comfortable at Melbourne Cricket Ground. He went 15-of-25 passing for 155 yards and one interception. Stafford was not sacked once, but he was consistently under pressure from San Francisco’s retooled defense.
It is difficult to determine exactly what went wrong for LA in this one. Most likely because it is a combination of several factors all working together.
Some of the blame is Stafford’s alone. After all, he did miss on a few big throws. One notable play was a deep shot towards Nacua that Stafford overthrew by about a dozen yards. There was also Stafford’s that ended a promising drive.
Stafford was also stuffed at the goal line on a quarterback sneak, but that’s more of an offensive line failure than anything else.
If Stafford played the way he did last season, this would have been a winnable game for the Rams. Perhaps he’ll feel more comfortable when returning to SoFi Stadium in Week 2.
The Rams botched their travel plans for Australia trip and it showed on the field
Don’t tell head coach Sean McVay, but LA’s travel plans may have played a role in last night’s loss.McVay that the Rams lost in part because of the team’s decision to arrive in Australia on Thursday.
“I don’t believe that that’s why we didn’t play well enough,” McVay said, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. “I really don’t. … I’ll always make decisions that I think are best for the football team. It’s easy in hindsight to be able to say it was a miss, but those are responsibilities that I’ll take.”
The to get to Australia, simulating a normal road game experience. Meanwhile, the 49ers made the decision to arrive nearly a week early to overcome jet lag.
Neither team had the advantage early in the contest. But as time went on, the 49ers decisively separated themselves from the Rams. It certainly appeared that rest played a small factor, even if it wasn’t the most important variable in LA’s Week 1 loss.
Hopefully McVay and the Rams can learn from this experience for the next time they play an international game.
San Francisco completely neutralized from wire to wire
The 49ers sold out to stop Myles Garrett from wrecking their offense on Thursday. San Francisco threw everything they had at Garrett to slow him down. He was routinely double-teamed and chipped, on top of being obfuscated by plenty of play-action passes, rollouts, and screens.
Garrett did not show up on the box score. That makes it the fourth time in his career that he was held without a tackle or quarterback hit.
We now know that Garrett is , which explains why he wasn’t his usual self.
“This was the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there. And I’ve got to be better,” Garrett said after the game, per ESPN’s Sarah Barshop. “I’ve got to find a way to recover and get back to the player I know I can be and I’ve shown that I’ve been before.”
Garrett’s sole focus ahead of Week 2 is on .
“Getting healthy. That’s the main thing,” Garrett added. “When I was out there, I was a little bit more focused on myself and trying to stay healthy than what they were doing and that showed. I wasn’t who I needed to be for my team.”
Rams fans should keep an eye on Garrett’s injury status over the next week of practice.
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