49ers Rout Rams in Historic Australia Debut

The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Los Angeles Rams 27-7 at Melbourne Cricket Ground in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia, after leading 10-7 at halftime before a crowd of about 100,000. The Rams entered the 2026 season as Super Bowl favorites, but San Francisco rushed for 175 yards, kept Brock Purdy largely untouched and neutralized star defender Myles Garrett, who finished without a tackle and is expected to miss at least four games after arthroscopic knee surgery; Aaron Donald was also unavailable for the opener. Rookie 49ers receiver De’Zhaun Stribling suffered an ankle injury and was carted off in his NFL debut, while tight end Jake Tonges was sidelined. Netflix’s first live regular-season NFL broadcast outside its Christmas slate drew widespread complaints about audio, video and commercial issues, although some viewers reported no problems. The Jonas Brothers performed at halftime, while Infinity Song’s U.S. anthem rendition drew criticism and Cody Simpson’s Australian anthem received stronger reviews; a separate Seahawks-Patriots opener also featured Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready performing the U.S. anthem to mixed reactions.