Many had the Los Angeles Rams pegged as Super Bowl contenders, and Monday night’s 28-6 victory over the New York Giants looked like the version of the team those prognosticators expected. Missing All-Pro wideout Puka Nacua, the Rams still dominated: Matthew Stafford threw four touchdown passes, Davante Adams piled up 195 receiving yards with two scores, and a defense refreshed by Aaron Donald’s return kept the Giants out of the end zone.
Even allowing for New York playing most of the game with backup quarterback Jameis Winston, the performance was striking and helps erase some of the concern left by Los Angeles’ Week 1 stumble in Australia against the San Francisco 49ers.
Asked after the game about his team’s sudden turnaround, coach Sean McVay pointed to what he considered the main culprit for the Melbourne flop: poor travel planning. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn,” he said, adding self-deprecatingly that sometimes there’s “a dumbass coach” who makes travel choices that leave the team at a disadvantage — a remark he acknowledged was aimed at himself and used as a quick exit line from the podium.
The Australia trip drew scrutiny because the two teams handled the extreme time change differently. San Francisco arrived in Melbourne about six days early to acclimate, while the Rams — following a strategy they’d used successfully for a London trip last season — flew in roughly 28 hours before kickoff. That approach worked for a shorter transatlantic trip but didn’t translate to the 17-time-zone jump to Australia, and the Rams showed the effects in that 20-point loss.
McVay has since said he doesn’t want the Rams to play in Australia again, and if the team does return Down Under — whether he’s still coach or not — it’s likely they’ll avoid last-minute travel.
Fan Take: This matters because the NFL’s international expansion raises real questions about player health and competitive fairness; travel and recovery plans can swing games and even seasons. If the league wants global games to stick, teams and the NFL will need to standardize better protocols so long flights and time-zone shifts don’t decide outcomes.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
