NFL fans around the world tuned in for the first-ever NFL Australia game Thursday night as the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams squared off in an NFC West matchup. While the division rivalry between the two teams makes every game between them a must-see, the squads’ different approaches to how they would deal with jet lag also got plenty of attention.

The 49ers arrived in Melbourne about a week before the game, giving their players time to adjust to the 17-hour time difference. The Rams took the opposite approach, arriving roughly 24 to 28 hours before kickoff and trying to keep their bodies operating on West Coast time. The experiment provided some pretty decisive results, as the 49ers beat the Rams in Melbourne by a score of 27-7, making them the first NFL team ever to win a game in Australia.

The NFL Had Never Played a Regular-Season Game in Australia

NFL international games have been part of the schedule since 2005, but the league had never played a game in Australia until Thursday night. The distance from California to Melbourne is enormous, and the 17-hour time difference created a logistical problem unlike anything the league routinely deals with in the United States. The game kicked off at 10:35 a.m. Friday local time in Melbourne, even though it was still Thursday evening on the West Coast.

More than 102,000 people packed into the Melbourne Cricket Ground, making it one of the most-attended games in the history of the NFL. The NFL has long experimented with games in Canada, Mexico, and Europe, but questions about the logistics of dealing with such a drastic time difference had kept the league out of Australia. Still, under the leadership of commissioner Roger Goodell, the NFL made a further push to make the game a global one. The teams were allowed to decide how they wanted to handle the time difference, with both squads taking very different approaches.

The 49ers Opted for More Time

NFL players deal with jet lag every week as teams from the West Coast fly to the East Coast for games. However, no two teams had ever dealt with such a 17-hour change in time. The 49ers and coach Kyle Shanahan arrived in Melbourne about a week before the game to give themselves time to adjust. Players practiced, appeared at events, and experienced the city rather than simply treating Australia as a place where they happened to play football.

The Rams Tried Something Completely Different

Hindsight is 20/20, so it’s easy to say that the 49ers’ strategy was better than the one the Rams employed after seeing how the game played out. Instead of giving players time to adjust to the time-zone difference, the Rams tried to maintain their normal routine. The team arrived in Melbourne only about a day before the game, hoping that players would still feel as though they were operating on their familiar U.S. schedule when kickoff arrived.

Sean McVay, the head coach of the Rams, wasn’t basing his approach on a hunch. It’s a similar approach to one that Los Angeles used during the 2025 NFL season when playing in London, England. That game went much better for LA, as they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars by a score of 35-7. The problem was that Melbourne wasn't London. The Australia trip involved a much larger time difference and an extraordinarily long flight.

The Rams Didn't Blame the Loss on Jet Lag

Sean McVay refused to blame the travel for his team’s performance in their season opener. After the game, McVay acknowledged that the 49ers had outplayed his team but said he didn't want to blame the result on the unusual travel schedule.

The team had also taken steps to make the flight itself as manageable as possible. Players used fully reclining seats and followed carefully planned routines designed to preserve sleep and keep their body clocks aligned with the United States.

Ultimately, the Rams probably didn’t lose just because of their approach to travel. Myles Garrett, who was traded to the team in the offseason, was kept in check as Brock Purdy threw for three touchdown passes and the 49ers' run game proved hard to stop. Offensively, reigning NFL MVP Matt Stafford and the Rams struggled to sustain drives. It remains to be seen if the NFL will return to Australia next season, but if they do, teams may take a travel approach closer to what San Francisco chose.

Want more NFL coverage? Head to Sports Pass for the latest. From breaking headlines to fresh perspectives, WaveNewsToday has more to explore.