Published September 10, 2026 11:33 PM

Much will be made of the travel arrangements for the 49ers and Rams, but Los Angeles better hope its lackluster performance is jet lag and nothing more.

The 49ers dominated the Rams from start to finish, winning 27-7 in Melbourne.

San Francisco spent the past week in Australia, while Los Angeles showed up 28 hours before kickoff and stayed on Pacific Time in its brief stay. The 49ers not only looked like the fresher team but the better team.

Mike Evans scored a touchdown in his 49ers’ debut; Deebo Samuel scored a touchdown in his return; Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw showed what a difference they make to the team’s defense; and Trent Williams confirmed he’s the best left tackle in the game.

Brock Purdy outplayed the reigning NFL MVP, completing 25 of 34 passes for 205 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for 29 yards on five carries.

Purdy’s touchdowns covered 39 yards to Demarcus Robinson, 5 yards to Evans and 15 yards to Samuel. Evans caught six passes for 49 yards, with five of his catches converting third downs, and Samuel had six catches for 48 yards and a 45-yard kickoff return.

49ers kicker Eddy Piñeiro kicked field goals of 20 and 56 yards but hit the right upright and missed from 52 yards.

The 49ers had more yards (379 to 290), more first downs (23 to 15), more plays (64 to 57), fewer turnovers (one to two), fewer penalties (two to four) and a better third-down percentage (7-of-12 to 2-of-9).

Matthew Stafford threw an interception, had a 61.2 passer rating and failed on two fourth-down plays. In his previous 84 starts, Stafford had scored fewer than 10 points only once. He directed the Rams to only nine points in a 24-9 loss to the 49ers in 2022.

He was stopped short of the goal line by Warner and rookie Gracen Halton on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 3:46 remaining in the third quarter. Then, with 7:54 left, he threw incomplete on fourth-and-9 to end all hope of a comeback.

He finished 15-of-25 for 155 yards before turning it over to Stetson Bennett for mop-up duty with 3:29 left.

Kyren Williams scored the Rams’ only touchdown on a 5-yard run, giving them their only lead at 7-3.

Puka Nacua caught five passes for 74 yards.

Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, did nothing in his Rams debut. He had no stats, spending much of his night going one-on-one with Williams, and appeared gassed in the fourth quarter.

Garrett did not practice much this summer due to knee swelling.

Warner totaled 11 tackles, a pass defensed and a forced fumble; Greenlaw had six tackles; and Bosa recorded four tackles, two for loss, and a quarterback hit.

Brock Purdy, 49ers dominate Rams 27-7 in Australia

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