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I don't usually focus much on travel for an NFL season opener, but with how the NFC West rivals San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams opted for such different travel plans ahead of tonight's first-ever NFL regular-season game in Australia, I think it's relevant. The Thursday Night Football slate during the season is usually on Prime Video, but Netflix has the rights for this week's game. It's an 8:35 p.m. ET kickoff (10:35 a.m. Friday local) from the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground. L.A. is officially the home team.
It's so interesting how the two head coaches, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, opted to handle this. Shanahan's Niners left for Australia way back on Sept. 2 to give themselves all that time to acclimate to the 14-hour time difference. I don't know if that bites San Francisco tonight, but I'm already somewhat peering ahead to the guys perhaps dragging in the Week 2 home opener -- although at least it's against the truly sorry Dolphins.
Meanwhile, McVay always likes to buck convention, and he sure did here with the Rams not leaving for Melbourne until Tuesday night Los Angeles time and arriving essentially 24 hours before kickoff -- much like a typical regular-season road game. McVay said this was influenced in part by how the Rams arrived in London last year for a Sunday afternoon game on Saturday morning. That worked out fine, as Los Angeles routed Jacksonville.
"It doesn't mean that we think we're right and a different approach is wrong," McVay has said to the media. "It's just what we think is best based on the things that we've done and what we've learned over our time here."
I get into injuries and the like below, but the big news is that unretired future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald didn't make the trip for L.A. after committing to the team so late in the summer. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year needs some conditioning and the like. So that delays the incredible pairing of Donald and trade acquisition and two-time DPOY and single-season sack king Myles Garrett will have to wait until at least Week 2 on a Monday night in the true home opener vs. the Giants. The Rams are the first team in NFL history to have two players who have won the award multiple times.
Melbourne Cricket Ground, with a capacity of 100,000, is generally considered the most iconic stadium in Australia. It is recognized as the birthplace of test cricket. I'm not about to explain what that is, you either know or you don't. The setup might look a little strange watching because it's an oval-shaped field there, so the rectangular football field will be shaped within the oval.
We'll take you through every aspect of the 49ers vs. Rams game that you need to know before you lock in your bets, including SportsLine expert picks, props, trends, DFS, injury information and everything else that will help you know which plays are worth making for the prime-time matchup.
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