Familiar foes find an entirely foreign entry into the 2026 season this week when the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers play in the first regular-season game ever staged in Australia.
“The jet lag didn’t hit me that bad,” 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey said as San Francisco settled in for a week in Melbourne.
A flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles takes around 90 minutes, and the 380-mile drive can be done in around six hours.
However, it’s about 8,000 miles to fly the L.A. to Melbourne, and the Rams are taking a 16-hour flight to be the “home” team in Australia when the NFC West rivals reconnect on Friday morning local time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The extreme time difference means the regular-season opener for the teams will air in the usual Thursday NFL primetime slot.
“We always have an advantage of having one home game a year in L.A., just the way our fans are, to take over (SoFi) stadium,” Shanahan said. “So, it’s disappointing to let (the Rams) off the hook and get them out of that. But I have a feeling, knowing how our fans roll, I have a feeling it won’t be much different here.”
The Rams’ travel plan is vastly different. Their departure is set for Tuesday night (U.S. time) to play in Australia.
“The most important thing to me is they know that everything we do is what we think is best,” Rams coach Sean McVay said of his players. “It doesn’t mean that we think we’re right and a different approach is wrong. It’s just what we think is best is based on the things that we’ve done (in the past) and what we’ve learned over our time here.”
McVay stands on the idea the Rams were, well, rebuilt for this. General manager Les Snead reclaimed his reputation in the offseason as “Trader Les” by acquiring reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. On the heels of setting the single-season record for sacks, Garrett helped Snead and McVay coax Aaron Donald out of retirement. Donald would suit up for his first game since January 2024 if he is in the lineup this week. He decided to retire following that wild-card playoff loss at Detroit.
“I feel like we’ve had a really solid offseason — a really nice, strong training camp on both sides of the ball,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “That puts you in a position to have confidence going into the season that you understand what your team’s about. Then, inevitably, things happen and you’ve got to morph and change and find the ways to be successful.”
Shanahan believes the 49ers are better this season. He’d love to steer San Francisco away from the injury subplots that crept up the past two seasons. Defensive end Nick Bosa accelerated his bid to return from a torn ACL sustained last September and is expected to play in Australia, as is tight end George Kittle.
Bosa has only been practicing without limitations for one week. Kittle is less than nine months removed from tearing his right Achilles tendon. He was hurt Jan. 11 in the 49ers’ wild-card playoff win at Philadelphia.
Bosa battled tendinitis and the 49ers scaled back workouts. Bosa said he is back on track to play, but until Monday (U.S. time), the team hadn’t joined in the chorus.
“Oh, he’s going out there,” 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said of Bosa. “Whatever you want to say, he’s going. He’ll be there. We’re not hiding that.”
Among the important additions the 49ers made since January, wide receiver Mike Evans signed as a free agent and San Francisco spent its top draft pick to select wideout De’Zhaun Stribling in the second round. Deebo Samuel re-signed after a year with the Washington Commanders, giving quarterback Brock Purdy a sturdy and physical group of targets. Purdy hasn’t had a 1,000-yard wide receiver since Brandon Aiyuk in 2023.
Purdy can also lean on McCaffrey, who had eight receptions in both matchups with the Rams last season.
The teams split a pair of regular-season games last season dominated by offense. The Rams outscored the 49ers 65-52. Both teams went 12-5 and reached the playoffs.
Los Angeles wideout Puka Nacua had 15 total receptions in two games against the 49ers last season. Nacua, limited in training camp due to groin/hip soreness, led the NFL with 129 receptions and posted a career-high 1,715 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2025.
San Francisco hosts the rematch with the Rams in Week 14 (Dec. 13) just ahead of consecutive road games against the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs.