49ers vs. Rams: Three Bold Predictions for Thursday Night’s NFC West Bout Down Under

The NFL’s International Series begins in Week 1 this season, with the 49ers and Rams facing off from the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia on Thursday night in the United States (Friday morning, Down Under).

San Francisco comes into this one having dealt with quite an injury-riddled training camp. Throughout the summer, they’ve seen star players such as Christian McCaffrey, Mike Evans and Nick Bosa—among plenty of others—miss several practices due to injuries. Additionally, Ricky Pearsall is out for the year after having surgery on his PCL, and Alfred Collins tore his patellar tendon in practice this week, which will also shelve him for the whole season. In all, the 49ers currently have 11(!) players on injured reserve. Still, they’re led by head coach Kyle Shanahan, who’s led them to double-digit wins in four of the last five seasons.

RELATED: Inside the Rams’ Unique Plan to Make a 15,000-Mile Trip to Australia Feel As Normal As Possible

As for the Rams, the theme of their offseason was the construction of a superteam. Already equipped with reigning MVP Matthew Stafford and 2025 receptions leader Puka Nacua on offense, the Rams went out and bolstered their defense this spring, trading for both cornerback Trent McDuffie and defensive end Myles Garrett. Then, late last month, they put the cherry on top of their roster by officially luring three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald out of retirement—though he won’t travel to Melbourne for this one.

Either way, we’re in for a good one from Australia. Here are three bold predictions for 49ers vs. Rams.

Myles Garrett will record two sacks in his Rams debut

Garrett made history in 2025—his final year with the Browns—setting the NFL’s single-season sack record with 23.0 thanks to a Week 18 takedown of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. In turn, he was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in his career, earned a third consecutive first-team All-Pro nod and was named Sports Illustrated’s best edge rusher in the league for 2026.

Needless to say, Los Angeles is adding quite the player to its front seven, and even without Donald on Thursday night, Garrett should have plenty of opportunities to get after 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy—thanks to his running mates in Braden Fiske, Kobie Turner and Bryon Young potentially opening up some favorable matchups for him.

That’s why, against a 49ers offensive line with some question marks on the interior, I’m predicting Garrett will tally two sacks on Purdy—starting his Rams tenure out with a bang.

Christian McCaffrey will score one rushing and one receiving touchdown

With Purdy likely to be under siege by L.A.’s defensive front, the 49ers will have to rely on their top offensive weapon in McCaffrey for a spark.

The 30-year-old dual-threat back returned to form last season, rushing for 1,202 yards and 10 touchdowns on 311 carries while also catching 102 passes for 924 yards and seven touchdowns—which tied a career high. His 413 touches not only led the league but were the most he’s logged in a season since being drafted in 2017 and underscored just how important he is to this San Francisco offense.

While gone are the days of fantasy football managers tallying how many games in a row McCaffrey will score a touchdown (he did so in 17 consecutive games across the 2022 and ’23 seasons, an NFL record), he’s still a scoring machine. Last season, he found pay dirt in 12 of the 49ers’ 17 games, and in 2026, he’ll likely remain the team’s offensive focal point—especially while George Kittle continues to work back from an Achilles injury.

In turn, the Australian fans are in for quite a show, as I’m predicting that McCaffrey will score two touchdowns—one on the ground and one through the air—on Thursday night.

The 49ers will upset the Rams, handing the NFL’s latest super team a loss to begin their season

Shanahan, McVay — The 49ers are 11–8 vs. the Rams since Shanahan and McVay took over in 2017. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

The Rams are a wagon; there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It’s why two-thirds of us here at SI picked them as the eventual Super Bowl LXI champions.

But that doesn’t mean they’ll start hot. In fact, in two of the past three seasons, Los Angeles began the year well below .500 (3–6 in 2023, 1–4 in ’24) before catching fire and finding themselves in the postseason.

And so, as they get used to a new offensive coordinator in Nate Scheelhaase, fresh faces on defense and an Australian time change that they purposely chose not to arrive early for, I’m predicting the Rams will lose this one out of the gate—falling to the division-rival 49ers, 21–20—and start what will eventually be a championship-winning season with a loss.

Add us as a preferred source on Google