Shanahan, McVay brush off travel plans as factor in Niners' win over Rams
MELBOURNE, Australia -- In the moments after his team's 27-7 victory over the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan already knew one of the questions coming his way.
Sure enough, seven questions into his postgame news conference at Melbourne Cricket Ground, a reporter asked Shanahan whether the Niners' plans to travel to Melbourne a week in advance gave his team an advantage against the Rams, who arrived Thursday, played Friday and headed out after the game.
"Win or lose, I know everybody was going to make a big deal about that for either team," Shanahan said. "You never know how much that factors into it. You just try to do the best to prepare for 3 hours. I liked how we prepared, but more importantly, I liked how we played."
Rams coach Sean McVay echoed that sentiment.
"I don't believe that that's why we didn't play well enough," McVay said. "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."
Though neither coach wanted to make the league's first regular-season game in Australia a referendum on travel plans, the 49ers' victory provided a useful data point for future teams having to make 15-plus hour flights to play a game.
After a sloppy first half for both sides, the Niners rattled off 17 straight points to hand the Rams their worst loss since Week 2 in 2024. The Rams are the first preseason Super Bowl favorite in the past 50 years to lose their season opener by 20 points or more.
In Raheem Morris' first game as 49ers defensive coordinator, the Niners' defense held the Rams to their lowest scoring output in a game they've had Matthew Stafford at quarterback. The Niners' offense, meanwhile, looked fresh and balanced as quarterback Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes, and San Francisco averaged 5.8 yards per carry on 30 attempts.
The Niners had a clear appreciation for how Shanahan and his staff handled the travel plans.
"It was definitely worth it coming a little bit early," receiver Mike Evans said. "I felt like we got acclimated. ... We didn't complain. We actually enjoyed being out here in Melbourne."
The 49ers landed in Melbourne on Sept. 4. They stayed at the Park Hyatt Hotel, where the team arranged for everything from meeting and film rooms, and the 49ers' chefs prepared meals at the restaurant. The players had access to a nearby spa for various recovery tools such as a cold plunge and red light therapy.
When they weren't planning for the game, the Niners explored the city, trying the various coffee shops and going to group dinners at local restaurants. Running back Christian McCaffrey even got a haircut and was told that his hair "looks cracker," which he was then informed means it looks good.
"Melbourne was sick," tight end George Kittle said. "I had a great time here. I'm real excited, the fact that we came out early and were here for the whole week, immerse ourselves in Melbourne. We were taken great care of, great hotel, the staff was awesome. We had so much fun drinking coffee and just kind of hanging out for the whole week."
During the game, Shanahan and his team noted the sellout crowd -- the announced attendance of 100,021 was the seventh highest in the regular season NFL history -- was a bit far from the field, but they still found ways to enjoy the game.
Purdy and Shanahan enjoyed the Australian tradition of fan singalongs during the game.
"It was awesome," Purdy said. "I thought the energy that the Australians have out here were really cool. They're passionate about sports. We have heard that from a lot of people, but being out there, looking around, I was like, this is pretty cool, man. It's pretty special. ... They had fun with it. So, for us to be able to come here to an amazing country and amazing spot, win, and be able to enjoy Melbourne and the week that we were here with all the people, it was a great experience overall."
Despite the successful trip, the Niners might not be in a hurry to return to Australia, at least not right away.
San Francisco was technically the visitor for Thursday's game and does not have international marketing rights in the country, which means potential future visits would have to be under similar circumstances to this one.
The NFL has already struck a multiyear agreement to return to Australia with other teams holding marketing rights here, such as the Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders next in line.
The 49ers enjoyed their time in Australia, and any hesitancy about playing here again would be about the logistics and fatigue from such a long trip.
"It was cool. I would like to come back when I'm not working, though," Shanahan said. "It seemed awesome. Seemed like a cool place. But it's tough when you're working the whole time. ... I like 17 home games in San Francisco. Nothing against Australia, just don't like to travel."
