The ’ unusual travel strategy to Australia is already receiving criticism after their .
Stephen A. Smith called out the Rams for arriving in Melbourne roughly 28 hours before kickoff ahead of their 27-7 loss to the Niners.
"You got there 28 hours before the game. Clearly, that appeared to be a mistake. " reacts to the Rams' loss to the 49ers in their season opener in Australia 😬Watch sports LIVE with
— First Take (@FirstTake)
“You got there 28 hours before the game; clearly that appeared to be a mistake,” Smith said. On the Rams’ worst day, they are scoring more than seven points. On their worst day, they are averaging more than 6.2 yards per play. Being up 7-3 and being outscored 24-0 after that is not the Los Angeles Rams.”
The Rams intentionally stayed on Pacific Time and arrived shortly before the game, while the 49ers took the opposite approach. San Francisco arrived about a week early, giving Kyle Shanahan’s team significantly more time to acclimate to Melbourne and its 17-hour time difference from Los Angeles.
One team certainly looked more comfortable than the other. Los Angeles actually took a 7-3 lead before completely falling apart. San Francisco scored the final 24 points as the Rams’ offense struggled to generate anything consistently.
Matthew Stafford finished with just 155 passing yards, while Los Angeles converted only two of nine third downs. The Rams finished with 290 total yards after entering the season with massive expectations.
Would arriving a week earlier have guaranteed a Rams victory? Of course not. But after watching San Francisco look considerably sharper throughout the night, Los Angeles’ decision to arrive barely more than a day before kickoff will inevitably face scrutiny.
The experiment didn’t work.
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