The National Football League will be hosting its first-ever regular-season game in Australia when the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers face off at the Melbourne Cricket Ground tonight. Both squads come into the 2026-27 season with Super Bowl aspirations after they fell short of the Lombardi Trophy last year.

The Rams had the busiest off-season of any team in the NFL. Not only did they add two new starting cornerbacks, but LA also made a blockbuster trade for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. On top of that, they brought back future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald. With so many meaningful additions, the expectations in Los Angeles are through the roof. However, head coach Sean McVay won't let that outside noise impact how his team approaches this season.

“The last time I checked, none of that stuff means anything,” McVay said in July. "We’re not going to allow the outside expectations change the way that we approach every day with the way that we work, the way that we enjoy it... We’re not going to let external expectations inhibit our ability to go swing and be courageous.”

Despite the recent return of Aaron Donald to the team, he’s not traveling with the team to Australia. This is not due to injury concerns or anything like that. Rather, Sean McVay wants to make sure Donald has as much time as possible to get ready for his first NFL game since January of 2024.

“He's doing a great job. I think he'll be ready to go sooner rather than later, but we're making a decision that we think is best for him and for our team,” McVay told reporters on Tuesday. “Being two years off retirement, he's attacked this the right way, but it would have been a really quick turnaround."

Regardless of who starts in this game, this matchup presents a unique set of challenges because of the time difference that comes with playing in Australia. East Melbourne is roughly 17 hours ahead of San Francisco and Los Angeles, which has led to very different ways that these squads have approached preparing for this matchup. The 49ers flew to Australia last week and have been there since Friday.

“It's been cool. I mean, it took a couple days to adjust, but feeling real good today,” Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan said over the weekend. “I mean, some guys feel good, feel great, and then you talk to them five hours later, they're like, ‘Never mind that; that left.’ Some guys started off bad, and they feel good later. For me, I feel my most normal today… I'm doing good, and I think most of the guys are doing real good, too.”

To call travelling to Australia difficult would be an understatement. Considering the 16-hour flight covers 8,000 miles, the 49ers opted to get there earlier in order to get better acclimated to the time difference. Thankfully, the players feel like these travel plans have made the adjustment process easier.

“I think it's all about getting your body in a good spot, just from the jet lag standpoint and the travel fatigue, all that,” San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey said earlier this week. “For me, it's just about being really diligent with the recovery, with the training, when you're eating, when you're taking caffeine, when you're not napping, when you're napping. The mental part of it will come. You had all week to get the game plan perfect, but it's the physical part that you’ve really got to be diligent about. And I think, again, our staff's done such a good job with that.”

Los Angeles has chosen to take a different approach with its travel plans. The Rams left LA on Tuesday night and arrived in Australia on Thursday morning, about 24 hours before the game is scheduled to begin.

“Everything we do is what we think is best,” Sean McVay explained on September 6th. “It doesn't mean that we think we're right and a different approach is wrong. It's just what we think is best based on the things that we've done and what we've learned over our time here.”

“I feel like we're just keeping it as normal as we possibly can,” added Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. Sunday [is] kind of like a Wednesday for us in our world. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, hop on the plane and go. We obviously have experience with it, doing it [in a] different direction. All that kind of stuff. I understand last year in London, but I felt like it worked out for us. Guys felt ready to play.. and having the opportunity to obviously go play over there is really cool, but I feel confident in the way we're going about it. Guys will be ready to rock and roll come Friday morning.”

Regardless of the travel plans, this game has major implications. After all, both squads made the postseason last year as Wild Card teams. In all likelihood, the Niners and Rams will be directly competing with each other again for a spot in the 2027 playoffs. As has often been the case, we can expect a tightly contested matchup between two squads that will probably be in the conversation for the Vince Lombardi Trophy when the regular season comes to an end. And with seven of the last 10 games between these squads being decided by one score, we can expect a barn-burner tonight.

“We're fired up, man. This has been such a cool experience,” Christian McCaffrey explained. “The atmosphere, you can already feel it. It’s just been a lot of fun. So, we're super fired up we're here.”

Prediction for San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams (-3.5)

This is the first time in over a year that the Niners will have (almost) their full arsenal of offensive weapons when going against the Rams. Keep in mind that backup QB Mac Jones started both games for San Francisco when these teams faced off in 2025. Having their starting quarterback play the entirety of this contest will likely yield much better results for the Niners. Obviously, we can't ignore the addition of Myles Garrett to Los Angeles. However, he’ll be going against future Hall of Fame offensive tackle Trent Williams, who should stop Garrett from completely dominating the game. Even if Williams can make Garrett slightly less effective, that would be a huge win for the Niners. Also, the Rams are a middle-of-the-road run-defending team, so Christian McCaffrey will probably make his presence felt in a big way, especially with Aaron Donald not making the trip to Australia. Last - and most importantly - I like San Fran's travel plans more than LA's. The Rams are not giving their bodies and minds enough time to adjust to jet lag. The same cannot be said for the Niners, who have been in Australia for several days, which has allowed their players to get better acclimated to the time difference. While it feels like this is a must-win game for San Francisco, LA can probably afford to lose this matchup and still end up making the playoffs. For all of those reasons, I am picking the Niners.

Prediction: 49ers 20 - 18 Rams

How to watch San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams (-3.5)

49ers vs. Rams starts at 8:35 p.m. EDT at Melbourne Cricket Ground. You can stream it on Netflix.

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