The San Francisco 49ers got off to an impressive start to their 2026 campaign, dominating the Super Bowl-favorite Los Angeles Rams in a 27-7 blowout on Thursday in Australia.It was an especially good showing by the 49ers defense, led by former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris.
San Francisco hired Morris as defensive coordinator after he was sent packing by Atlanta. In his 49ers debut, Morris helped shut down the Rams' high-powered offense and frustrated QB Matthew Stafford the same way he did when the Falcons upset Los Angeles last season.
The Rams only scored seven points - the lowest total of the Stafford-McVay era. After the game, 49ers star linebacker Fred Warner, who led the team with 11 total tackles, credited Morris in his post-game interview.
"It was a great start," said Warner. "You talk about the collective. It started with Raheem at the top and how prepared he had us for this game"
Morris led the Falcons to back-to-back 8-9 seasons but couldn't get them over the hump during his two years in Atlanta. However, his firing was somewhat of a surprise after he led the team to four straight wins to end the year in a three-way tie for the NFC South title.
The Falcons hired former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, who seemed to bring his quarterback dysfunction over from Cleveland in Year 1. Stefanski also doesn't seem to be under any pressure to win right away despite the fact that Raheem was fired for not getting to the playoffs.
Either way, it's too early to judge Stefanski and his staff, and the Falcons at least deserve to play a regular season game before the entire NFL writes them off.
For now, though, hiring Morris looks like a good move by 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. We'll see how the Falcons fare on Sunday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: 49ers LB credits former Falcons HC for win: 'It started with Raheem'
