The Latest: 49ers grow their lead on the Rams in Q4
The Latest: 49ers grow their lead on the Rams in Q4
By The Fri, September 11, 2026 at 3:01 AM UTC
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The longest road trip in NFL history has brought the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams to Melbourne, Australia, for a season opener before more than 100,000 fans packed into the Southern Hemisphere’s largest stadium.
The NFC West rivals are playing at Melbourne Cricket Ground, a longtime home to Australian rules football, only with two starkly different approaches to the epic 16-hour journey.
The Niners have spent the past week in Australia. The Rams joined them just 28 hours before kickoff.
Stick around for live coverage of the NFL's debut Down Under.
Here's the latest:
49ers take a 24-7 lead on Brock Purdy’s third TD pass
Brock Purdy’s third TD pass of the game gave the San Francisco 49ers a 24-7 lead over the Los Angeles Rams early in the fourth quarter.
The Niners drove 99 yards after stuffing Matthew Stafford on a fourth down sneak from the 1 to break the game open. Purdy finished the drive with a 15-yard pass to Deebo Samuel.
Purdy had already connected with Demarcus Robinson and Mike Evans on scoring strikes.
Stafford gets stuffed on 4th down sneak
The San Francisco 49ers stuffed Matthew Stafford on a fourth-down sneak to maintain aa double-digit lead in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams.
Trailing 17-7, the Rams had driven near the goal line on their first possession of the second half before stalling. Puka Nacua caught a third-down pass just short of the goal line and coach Sean McVay decided to go for it.
Stafford tried a sneak but was stopped by Fred Warner and Gracen Halton.
Purdy’s 2nd TD pass gives 49ers a 17-7 lead over the Rams
Brock Purdy threw his second touchdown pass of the game to help San Francisco take a 17-7 lead over the Los Angeles Rams in the third quarter.
The 49ers scored on the opening drive of the second half thanks to a 45-yard kickoff return by Deebo Samuel and two big runs by Christian McCaffrey. Purdy capped the drive with a 5-yard pass to Mike Evans on third down.
Evans has six catches for 49 yards so far in his San Francisco debut.
The Jonas Brothers’ halftime performance is well-received in Australia
The Jonas Brothers’ halftime medley of songs — including a cover of an Australian favorite — was a hit Down Under.
The trio strode on stage a few minutes into the 49ers-Rams halftime break and started with a rendition of their hit “Burnin’ Up” before almost immediately transitioning into “Sucker.” After that it was “Listen when Sad” before moving into a cover of “You’re the Voice,” which was performed in 1986 by Australian singer John Farnham.
The Australian fans enjoyed the rendition and could be heard singing along during the broadcast.
Finally, the Jonas Brothers ended with a part of their song “Year 3000”
The Jonas Brothers — featuring Nick, Joe and Kevin — have sold more than 20 million albums and recently landed a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
49ers lead Rams 10-7 at the half
The San Francisco 49ers have a 10-7 lead over the Los Angeles Rams as their defense has frustrated reigning MVP Matthew Stafford.
The Niners got a field goal on the opening drive and a 39-yard TD pass from Brock Purdy to Demarcus Robinson in the second quarter.
The Rams scored on Kyren Williams’ 5-yard run on the first play of the second quarter that was set up by Stafford’s 41-yard pass to Puka Nacua.
Stafford couldn’t do much else and was 4 for 11 for 65 yards, one interception and a 19.1 passer rating. That’s his lowest rating in a first half since he had a 14.4 against Arizona on Dec. 16, 2012, when he played for Detroit.
Stribling is ruled out for the game with injury
San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver De’Zhaun Stribling is out of his NFL debut with an apparent ankle injury.
Stribling hurt his ankle early but returned to the game. He then came up limping after running a route in the second quarter and left the game on a cart. He was quickly ruled out for the game.
49ers rookie WR De’Zhaun Stribling leaves game with injury
San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver De’Zhaun Stribling was taken off on a cart with an apparent ankle injury.
Stribling hurt his ankle early but returned to the game. He then came up limping after running a route in the second quarter and left the game.
Stribling was San Francisco’s top draft pick in April, going 33rd overall. He had an impressive preseason and is counted on to be a big contributor this season.
Purdy connects on deep TD for 49ers
San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy finally connected on a deep strike to give the 49ers a 10-7 lead over the Rams.
Purdy found Demarcus Robinson for a 39-yard touchdown in the second quarter after beginning the game throwing mostly short passes.
Purdy’s first 21 passes went an average of about 3.6 yards downfield as San Francisco sought to neutralize Myles Garrett and the Los Angeles pass rush.
Rams and 49ers trade interceptions
Brock Purdy and Matthew Stafford traded interceptions in the second quarter as the defenses delivered big plays for the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.
Quentin Lake got the first takeaway of the game when he intercepted a pass from Purdy to George Kittle to end a drive for San Francisco. Purdy had the fourth-highest interception rate among all qualifiers last season with 10 on 284 passes.
But it didn’t prove too costly as Renardo Green got the ball back for the Niners when he intercepted a pass from Stafford to Puka Nacua.
Stafford threw 22 TD passes without an interception last season against NFC West foes in the regular season and playoffs. That was the most TD passes without an INT against division rivals in any season since the 1970 merger.
The MCG is an iconic venue, but it has an odd layout for the NFL
The Melbourne Cricket Ground has hosted some huge sporting events over its lifetime, but its layout is a little odd for an NFL game.
The playing surface of the MCG — known as The G by many locally — was made mostly for cricket and Australian rules football and constitutes a huge oval that measures 571 feet long by 489 feet wide. That makes the 360-foot-long, 160-foot-wide NFL field look relatively small on television.
It also means that many seats that are the most coveted at U.S. venues, like those on the 50-yard line, are much farther away from the action than at most NFL games.
Rams take a 7-3 lead over 49ers
The Los Angeles Rams got moving late in the first quarter and took a 7-3 lead over the San Francisco 49ers when Kyren Williams scored on a 5-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.
A 41-yard pass from Matthew Stafford to Puka Nacua got the Rams in position, and Williams finished the drive off with the score.
Los Angeles punted on the first two drives with just one first down. They didn’t punt twice in the first quarter in any game last season.
49ers take 3-0 lead with field goal on their opening drive
The San Francisco 49ers scored first in Australia.
The Niners forced a three-and-out to start the game and then drove 65 yards for a 20-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro to take a 3-0 lead.
Big offseason acquisition Mike Evans played a big role on the drive with three catches on third down to convert first downs. But San Francisco stalled in the red zone and settled for the field goal.
Aaron Donald not beginning his comeback Down Under
Aaron Donald’s comeback will not begin at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, unfortunately for Australian Rams fans who had hoped to see one of the greatest defensive linemen of his generation.
Donald didn’t make the trip Down Under with the Rams. The Rams waited until the final hours before departure to confirm their decision on Donald, who only returned to the team late last month after ending his 2 ½ -year retirement.
The 35-year-old Donald earned eight All-Pro selections and 10 Pro Bowl selections during his first decade with the Rams from 2014-23. He won three AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards and a Super Bowl ring.
He will team up with Myles Garrett on the Rams’ defensive line this season in a historic meeting of talent, but that pairing will begin stateside. Donald has said he feels sharp despite his time away, but the Rams have elected to take a cautious route with his comeback.
Niners quarterback Brock Purdy closes in on record
Brock Purdy begins his fourth full season as the 49ers’ starting quarterback with a chance to become the NFL’s all-time leader in passer rating.
Purdy enters the season with a 104.0 rating in 1,353 attempts since entering the league as the last overall pick in the 2022 draft. Purdy needs 147 more attempts to qualify for the NFL’s all-time leaders and should reach that threshold in October barring injury.
The current leaders in all-time passer rating are Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson at 102.2 so Purdy has a chance to take over the top spot if he maintains his current pace.
Hundreds wait in lines for NFL merch
Big NFL events always lead to long lines for souvenirs and merchandise, but the queues in Melbourne have been particularly epic — and game day is no exception.
The hundreds of fans who stood on the sidewalk for hours outside the official NFL store in the Central Business District went viral earlier this week, and the lines inside the Melbourne Cricket Ground on game day were similarly jaw-dropping.
Hundreds upon hundreds of fans stood in snaking queues on the concourse just outside the stadium for the chance to peruse the merchandise from a relatively small open-sided trailer, while hundreds more lined up at the fewer, smaller spots inside the arena to buy a jersey, jacket or even a football serving as proof of attendance at the first regular-season NFL game in Australia.
Most fans didn’t wait to try on their new gear at home, pulling it on immediately after purchase and leaving a little pile of discarded price tags near the exit.
49ers get ready to show off new receiver group
San Francisco will begin this season with only one of the wide receivers who played in their playoff loss in January on the active roster in reserve: Demarcus Robinson.
Ricky Pearsall is injured, and Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne and Skyy Moore all left in free agency as the Niners sought to upgrade the room.
The process started when they signed six-time Pro Bowler Mike Evans in free agency in March. They then used their top draft pick to take De’Zhaun Stribling 33rd overall out of Mississippi, and he’s had an impressive training camp.
After Pearsall went down, the 49ers made the move to bring back Deebo Samuel after he spent last season in Washington. Samuel played his first six seasons in San Francisco and was an All-Pro in 2021.
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Rams offense returns essentially every significant contributor from last season
NFL MVP Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offense return to action at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with essentially every significant contributor returning from last season’s top-ranked unit.
The Rams led the NFL last season in yards per game (394.6), yards passing (268.1) and points (30.5) with a dynamic attack orchestrated by the 38-year-old Stafford, who finally won his first MVP award.
With such success last year, the Rams ran it back: Every player who caught a pass for Los Angeles last year is on the roster again — even Tutu Atwell, who left as a free agent before returning in a preseason trade.
Every player who attempted a rush has also returned except for backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has been replaced by Stetson Bennett and rookie Ty Simpson.
The entire starting offensive line returns intact. Coach Sean McVay also has five tight ends on his roster to run the three-tight-end sets he unveiled last season, including rookie second-rounder Max Klare.
NFL commissioner says he’s not surprised by high turnout in Australia
Roger Goodell said on Netflix’s broadcast that he’s “never met a culture that loves sports more than this.”
“I think we always had a high expectation that this would be successful,” Goodell said. “This exceeded it in every way. Think about this: We’re on Friday at 10:30 in the morning and 100,000 people are going to be in a stadium watching an NFL game. That speaks volumes about the passion of these fans.”
Goodell said the league is probably still several years away from expanding with a permanent international team.
“Our ambition here is to make it a global sport,” Goodell said. “The NFL deserves to be and it’s a great game. We all believe in it passionately. I think our work here is to get to (18) regular-season games, then we’ll be looking for the next stage to grow.”
Goodell ended the interview by wearing a kangaroo-head jacket with an NFL logo.
NFL commissioner says the league’s investigation into Jed York’s arrest is ongoing
San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors last month after being arrested in Ohio following a prostitution sting. He was credited with time served and paid a fine, but the NFL is deciding whether he should be punished under the personal conduct policy.
“When we get (the investigation) completed we’ll make an announcement at that point in time,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on the pregame show on Netflix.
49ers get injured stars back to start season
San Francisco managed to win 12 regular-season games and one playoff contest last season despite several injuries to key stars.
Former All-Pros Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and George Kittle were all sidelined when the Niners lost in the divisional round last January in Seattle, but all three are expected to be back in the lineup.
Warner took part in all of training camp, while Kittle and Bosa only recently resumed practicing with the team. But all three will be crucial to any success the 49ers have this season.
The one key player missing is receiver Ricky Pearsall, who underwent season-ending knee surgery this summer.
Rams-49ers is the first of NFL record-setting 9 international games
Today’s Rams-49ers game kicks off the NFL’s nine-game international schedule, which includes games in seven different countries and on four continents.
Here’s a look at the rest of the league’s games that will be played outside of the U.S. this season:
- NFL on center stage in Melbourne this week
Even though the Australian Football League postseason is in full swing this month, the NFL is on center stage in Melbourne this week ahead of the Rams’ historic meeting with the 49ers.
The state of Victoria and the NFL are heavily invested in making this “gridiron” game into a success, and the American version of the sport is highlighted on trams, buses, billboards, murals and entire buildings. The historic Flinders Street Station and City Hall are both alive with moving light displays welcoming the teams.
Fans wearing gear supporting both teams have been everywhere in the Central Business District all week. Thousands of Americans made the trip from California and elsewhere to join the expected sellout crowd of roughly 100,000 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The game is a top story on newscasts and sports pages around the country as well. The 49ers dominate those reports since they’ve been in Australia all week while the Rams waited until midweek to travel, and many Australian fans and reporters clearly appreciate the Niners’ decision to make the most of the historic occasion.
Rams’ revamped defense is making its debut in Australia
Although Aaron Donald isn’t traveling to Australia, the rest of the Rams’ revamped defense will make its debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The Rams lost the NFC championship game to the Seattle Seahawks last season when their No. 1-ranked offense couldn’t make up for the shortcomings of a defense that struggled against the league’s best attacks.
So, in typical Rams fashion, they went out and swung bold moves to acquire two of the NFL’s best defensive players and a third high-caliber starter.
Los Angeles’ cornerback group was a clear weakness all season long in 2025, so the club acquired star cornerback Trent McDuffie from Kansas City, acquiring its first elite cover defender since Jalen Ramsey’s departure. Shortly afterward, the Rams signed McDuffie’s longtime Chiefs teammate, two-time Super Bowl champion cornerback Jaylen Watson, as a free agent.
The Rams then traded rising star Jared Verse and three high draft picks for Myles Garrett, the reigning AP Defensive Player of the Year. The Rams’ pass rush was already strong with Verse and Pro Bowl selection Byron Young, but Garrett has no equal at defensive end.
The rest of LA’s defense largely remained intact. Its first chance to play together comes against the 49ers in Australia.
Fans start to take their seats
The first gridiron fans have already reached their seats inside the massive Melbourne Cricket Ground just after 8 a.m. local time.
Only the footy 50-meter line is vaguely visible in the grass within the red zones of the American football field. The large oval field leaves large wedges of empty space behind each NFL sideline, but the area behind the north sideline has been filled with a large hospitality area featuring chairs, couches and a big bar.
49ers ready to start season following tumultuous summer
The 49ers are set to start the season following a tumultuous summer of offseason news.
Coach Kyle Shanahan got into a car crash a little more than a week before the start of training camp that left him with several injuries, including a concussion that limited what he could do early in camp. Shanahan is mostly back to full health and is expected to call plays along with the rest of his duties.
Last month, owner Jed York was arrested in a prostitution sting in Ohio. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and hasn’t been around the team all summer.
For your Down Under halftime entertainment — it’s the Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers — featuring Nick, Joe and Kevin — will be the halftime performers during the NFL’s first regular season game in Australia.
The NFL announced the headliners for the mid-game show last month, giving them the major entertainment assignment to start the league’s international schedule this season that includes nine games in seven countries and four continents.
“The Jonas Brothers are global entertainers whose music connects across generations, making them the ideal artists to help us celebrate this historic game in Melbourne,” said Tim Tubito, the NFL’s senior director of global game presentation and entertainment. “We look forward to delivering a memorable halftime performance for our fans in Australia and those watching around the world.”
Rams may spend more total time in the air than on the ground in Australia
Rams coach Sean McVay is a strong advocate for sports science, and he also likes his players to stay in a consistent routine. That combination has led the Rams to make an extraordinarily short trip to Australia.
The Rams practiced at their training complex in Los Angeles all week, finishing their workouts on Tuesday afternoon, before getting on a plane that arrived in Melbourne roughly 24 hours before kickoff.
They’ll turn around and go back to California immediately after the game, which means it’s possible they’ll spend more total time in the air above the Pacific Ocean than on the ground in Australia.
McVay has become convinced that short trips are ideal for athletes’ circadian rhythms, body clocks and overall alertness. He employed the same strategy last year when the Rams flew from the U.S. East Coast to London one day before their blowout win over Jacksonville at Wembley Stadium — but that flight is roughly half as long as the 15-hour trek to Melbourne.
The Rams missed out on the week of practice, sightseeing and community involvement enjoyed by the 49ers, who traveled to Melbourne a week earlier, but McVay is convinced his strategy is the best way to beat a rival that has regularly topped the Rams during his parallel career with San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan.
The lengthy trip to Australia will test the Rams and 49ers. So will the return home
One reason the NFL’s first game in Australia will be played tonight before the bulk of Week 1 is to give the event the one-of-a-kind treatment it deserves.
Another main reason: It should give the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers more time to rest in the aftermath.
One of the fascinating subplots to the first regular-season contest Down Under will be how teams react to the roughly 8,000-mile (12,900-kilometer), 16-hour flight from the West Coast. The Rams and 49ers had vastly different plans to stay fresh for the game despite the lengthy travel, and they’ll also need a plan when they return home.
The fact that the game is played on a Thursday night in the U.S. means both teams will have a full weekend at home to rest and recuperate before getting back to the grind of the NFL’s 18-week regular season.
NFL hopes this is the first of many games in Australia
The NFL hopes that today’s game between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers will be the first of many regular-season games played in front of its growing Australian fan base.
The league is also determined to play those games at Australia’s biggest stadium during the first week of the NFL’s regular season — even with a major scheduling problem obstructing that goal in 2027.
The 100,000-seat MCG could be unavailable to the NFL at this time next year because it will be occupied by the Australian Football League postseason, which begins in early September. The AFL accommodated the NFL this year, but doesn’t intend to do the same in 2027, according to Australian media reports.
NFL Executive Vice President Peter O’Reilly downplayed the potential for disruption caused by this scheduling conflict during a recent conference call to highlight the league’s upcoming Australian debut.
“We have great partners in the MCG and the AFL, and I know we’ll work to a good solution there that allows the NFL to continue to play in Australia on an ongoing basis,” O’Reilly said.
NFL’s Australia debut comes in jumbo-sized, historic venue
Melbourne Cricket Ground — known by many locals as MCG or just The G — is a jumbo-sized venue fit for the NFL’s debut game Down Under.
The Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers will be playing today’s game at a stadium in Melbourne, Australia, that holds roughly 100,000 people and has hosted the Olympics, Cricket World Cup finals, some of Taylor Swift’s biggest shows and even a Papal mass.
“Melbourne as a city really stood out, having a huge stadium of that size, that caliber, that historical nature, in the middle of the city,” Charlotte Offord, GM for NFL Australia/New Zealand, told The . “It just felt like a bit of a no-brainer.”
Established in 1853, The G has developed a revered place in Australian sports and cultural life. Australia’s premier venue is hosting the first of the NFL’s nine international games this season.
A primetime NFL showdown in the US is a morning affair in Australia
One of the biggest challenges for two U.S.-based NFL teams playing a game in Australia has always been the time difference and sheer length of travel.
Today’s Rams-49ers showdown will kick off at 8:35 p.m. EDT — standard for a big game in the U.S. — but will actually begin at 10:35 a.m. in Melbourne on Friday because of the 14-hour time difference.
The two teams are taking vastly different approaches to the nearly 8,000-mile trip.
The Rams left Southern California on Tuesday night and arrived in Australia on Thursday, roughly 24 hours before the game.
The Niners have spent a week in Melbourne, having arrived last Friday for what is expected to be the first of several NFL regular-season games in a country and venue traditionally associated with cricket and Australian rules football.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
