Before the Los Angeles Rams lost in a laugher to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday in a 27-7 blowout, there was a lot of chatter about the former's travel plans to Australia.
The Niners went a week out from their game to get acclimated to the time difference. But the Rams left a few days before and immediately after the Week 1 contest ended on Thursday, fans pointed the finger to jetlag to explain why the Rams got beat badly by their NFC West rivals.
But did Rams head coach Sean McVay agree with that assessment? Here's what he told reporters in Melbourne after the game: "I don't believe that's why we didn't play well enough. I really don't."
"It's easy to say in hindsight to be able to say, 'it was a miss,'" he added. "Today, was really just
not good enough in terms of feeling the flow of the game being able to give ourselves an opportunity to snatch some momentum when there was opportunities. Didn't think we communicated very well on both sides of the football."
#Rams HC Sean McVay said he does not believe the team’s travel plan was responsible for how it played:
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 11, 2026
“I don't believe that's why we didn't play well enough. ... It’s easy in hindsight to say it was a miss.” https://t.co/iKYgHP5sEF pic.twitter.com/yf7GoBXr3U
We can't know if jetlag was the issue, but it's interesting to think about in hindsight.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Sean McVay shuts down jetlag excuses after Rams' dud vs. 49ers
