49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has made clear this offseason that he doesn't think his team benefits from opening the season in Australia. He made that point again after Thursday night's preseason finale.
The 49ers-Rams game on Thursday, September 10, is a designated Rams home game, but Shanahan says the 49ers' fan base always turns out so well in Los Angeles that they view that as a home game, and he'd take that over an extremely long road trip to Australia.
"I wish we played them here, for what we usually look at as a home game, but we'll see how it is in Australia," Shanahan said. "We'll play the Rams wherever. Going there, it is what it is, but it's going to be a fun atmosphere and always when we play the Rams it's a big, tough game, so, looking forward to it."
Rams coach Sean McVay also said after his team's preseason finale on Thursday night that the schedule is a challenge, but he said that's just how the NFL scheduled his team this season.
"It's a little bit different, but we'll have a unique schedule in general, just based on, it seems like we play every day of the week this year," McVay said....