49ers’ win over Rams leaves Sean McVay calling loss ‘humbling’

The well-rested San Francisco 49ers, who arrived in Melbourne, Australia, nearly a week before their opponent, dominated the favored Los Angeles Rams in Week 1.

The 49ers return to Northern California with a 1-0 record after crushing their division rival 27-7 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of 100,021 fans.

The Rams will have to review the tape to determine what went wrong. Was it their late arrival strategy? Was it a lack of playing time for their starters during the preseason? Or were the 49ers simply that much better?

Only time will tell.

For now, the Rams return to Southern California humbled by their Melbourne experience after an embarrassing performance from a team favored to win Super Bowl LXI.

"First of all, congratulations to the 49ers. They outplayed us in every facet," Rams head coach Sean McVay said after the defeat. "I didn't do nearly a good enough job. This is a humbling day for us, and this will define us only if we allow it to. And today was one of those days. I always look inside out. I didn't do a good enough job getting us ready to go."

McVay believes the Rams had opportunities to build momentum, but they failed to capitalize. One of those moments came against the 49ers defense at the goal line, which resulted in a fourth-down turnover.

The 49ers, however, were able to capitalize on such moments. Not only was it a fantastic goal-line stand by the 49ers defense, but San Francisco's offense marched 99 yards down the field on the next drive and scored a touchdown.

"They deserved the win. They were ready to go," McVay continued. "We'll look at it. We'll see where we can improve and be better moving forward. But this is a good humbling day."

McVay remains confident the Rams can succeed this season but acknowledged that any improvement must start with himself before filtering down to the coaching staff and players.

"Sometimes sports can humble you, and today was one of those days," McVay said. "I make no excuses, and whether you want to say it's about travel, whatever, we just weren't good enough in that window.

"I didn't coach good enough, and we'll look at it, and we'll move forward, and that's where we're at right now. But it was a great atmosphere. Give credit to the 49ers. They deserve it. And we're 0-1, and we'll move forward."

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about his team's travel strategy compared with McVay's. How much of an impact did arriving nearly a week earlier have on the outcome?

"I mean, the game worked," Shanahan said. "Win or lose, I knew everyone was going to make a big deal about that for either team. You never know how much that factors into it. You just try to do the best to prepare for three and a half hours. I like how we prepared, but more importantly, I liked how we played."