The Rams Are Taking a Massive Risk in Australia

The 49ers and Rams are about to make NFL history.

But they apparently have completely different ideas about how to prepare for it.

San Francisco and Los Angeles will play the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia on Thursday night in the United States, with the NFC West rivals meeting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The 49ers aren’t taking any chances.

San Francisco arrived in Australia a full week before the game, giving players several days to adjust to the enormous time difference, recover from the roughly 15-hour flight and practice in Melbourne.

The Rams?

They’re doing almost the exact opposite.

Los Angeles plans to arrive just one day before the game. Sean McVay’s idea is essentially to keep his players operating close to their normal body clocks rather than spending days attempting to adjust to Australian time.

That’s a massive gamble.

It worked for Los Angeles last season when the Rams arrived in London shortly before playing Jacksonville and proceeded to destroy the Jaguars 35-7. But Melbourne is a completely different challenge. The flight is more than twice as long, and players will have very little time to recover before kickoff.

Sleep experts aren’t even sure which strategy will work better.

The Rams could benefit from keeping their bodies closer to Pacific Time because the game falls around their normal late-afternoon performance window. But the 49ers should have a major advantage when it comes to recovering from the flight, hydrating and becoming comfortable in Australia.

That’s what makes this so interesting.

We’re basically getting a real-life NFL experiment.

If San Francisco looks fresher and dominates, teams playing future games in Australia might decide arriving early is the obvious answer.

If the Rams fly halfway across the world, barely spend a day there and beat San Francisco?

Sean McVay might have just completely changed the way NFL teams approach international travel.