Studs and Duds: Purdy, Bosa and the physical 49ers manhandle Rams in Australia

The NFL shipped two bitter NFC West rivals 8,000 miles across the Pacific to play a regular-season football game in a cricket ground, and honestly, the sheer logistical absurdity of it all deserved a far weirder finish than what we actually witnessed.

Instead, the 49ers went down under and casually turned the Rams inside out.

Depending on your hemisphere or how badly your internal body clock was melted by the International Date Line, the Niners were flying high on Thursday night — or was it Friday afternoon? Who cares?

Time is a flat circle, jet lag is all too real and the scoreboard at the MCG didn’t care what day of the week it was in California.

San Francisco dismantled Los Angeles with the kind of methodical, physical dominance that usually takes Kyle Shanahan’s squads until mid-November to dial up. They didn’t just beat the Rams; they leaned on them.

Make no mistake: pulling a lopsided division victory out of this fever dream of an opener is massive. In a brutal NFC West race where tiebreakers will inevitably decide who hosts playoff football and who spends January updating their golf handicap, bagging an intra-division “road” win on neutral turf in the Southern Hemisphere is the kind of perfect start you spend a week overseas to obtain.

It was messy in fleeting spots, sure, but the Niners’ win was, mostly, an absolute clinic.

Brock Purdy looked like he was reading the defense in slow motion, Mike Evans gave Niners fans something they haven’t seen since the Harbaugh administration, and the Niners’ defense made Sean McVay look completely out of his depth and the reigning NFL MVP, Matt Stafford, look like Geno Smith.

Here are the studs and duds from Melbourne, in no particular order:

💪 STUDS💪

Kaelon Black, RB

Led the 49ers in touches in the first half (7 carries for 36 yards), and for good reason. He showed serious pop in the run game, countering an early Rams lead in that department while Christian McCaffrey was kept on ice (only to be unleashed in the second half). Who had a rookie out of Indiana working over a “Superteam” on their 2026 bingo card? Not Sean McVay.

Mike Evans, WR

Not only did Evans catch the first goal-line fade I’ve seen the Niners complete in a decade of covering the team (this is only slight hyperbole), but he was a monster on third down. Finishing with 6 catches for 49 yards and that ice-breaking score in his San Francisco debut, he delivered exactly what was advertised when he was signed. Kyle Shanahan’s offense putting him in a tighter split gave him de facto slot looks, particularly early, and he cooked on money downs. If his hamstrings and abductors can survive the long flight back, he’s going to be an absolute menace for the Niners.

Deebo Samuel, WR

Yes, he had a touchdown and ignited the second half with a tremendous 45-yard kickoff return, but I was most impressed with Samuel’s blocking in this game. As a lead blocker on screens, a crack blocker in the run game — no matter where Samuel lined up, he was a battering ram. He might not have the twitch to make guys whiff in a phone booth one-on-one anymore, but there’s a reason Kyle Shanahan desperately wanted him back in the fold, and it was on full display Thursday.

Brock Purdy, QB

All preseason Brock Purdy looked as if the game was being played back at 0.25 speed around him. Save for one atrocious, head-scratching decision that resulted in a first-half interception, he threw for three touchdowns, scrambled for some big third-downs and operated with total, calm control over everything that surrounded him. That was an MVP-level performance.

Connor Colby, OG

Was he the best 49ers offensive lineman? No. That would have been — at first glance — center Jake Brendel. But was Colby — a somewhat surprising starter on the interior — the most impressive offensive lineman? Absolutely. I doubt we see him giving that starting guard job back anytime soon after opening some big running lanes in Melbourne.

Kyle Juszczyk, FB

The box score won’t show it, but Juice was exceptional as a lead blocker in this game. Last year’s fun Niners offensive development — dash motion — is now standard practice, and no one does it better than the 49ers’ fullback. He’s making the position look like a cheat code in an era where half the league doesn’t even roster one. Fools!

Nick Bosa, DE

The Niners’ superstar defensive end had a few dozen 11-on-11 reps in the last 11 months, coming off his third ACL reconstruction surgery. That didn’t seem to matter in the least bit against the Rams. He made Matthew Stafford’s life miserable from the opening snap, proving that even a surgically patched-together Bosa is still a terrifying prospect off the edge.

Fred Warner, MLB

Yes, it’s good to have the best middle linebacker in the NFL back. Warner was a heat-seeking missile, punching out two balls (one of which turned into a critical turnover), nearly picking off another pass, and tackling anything that was royal blue and dared to breathe. So many of the Niners’ defensive sins are completely erased by Warner’s sheer brilliance.

Jack Jones, CB

The Niners gave the Rams a taste of their own medicine and deployed Jones as a dimeback in this game, and it worked wonders. Jones’ second-quarter pass breakup was a massive, momentum-swinging play that kept L.A. off schedule and off the board. He showed up in a big way again on the Rams’ last-gasp drive to make the game interesting. An excellent, surprising wrinkle from new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.

Deommodore Lenoir, CB / Upton Stout, NB

That dimeback look doesn’t work unless Lenoir and Upton Stout are able to slide inside and hold their own as de facto linebackers. Stout was an excellent, violent blitzer off the edge, and Lenoir was exceptional as an open-field tackler all game long.

📉DUDS📉

Ji’Ayir Brown, S

A huge, unnecessary gamble on a deep pass to Puka Nacua in the first half gave the Rams’ offense — anemic to that point — instant life and directly handed them their lone touchdown of the game. Brown also chipped in a number of ugly run fills and completely unset edges. If you’re going to freelance like Ed Reed, you probably shouldn’t guess wrong.

CJ West, DT

The 49ers desperately needed West to step up as the team’s No. 1 interior run stuffer in this game after Alfred Collins’ injury that has shelved him for the season. That… did not happen. West was demolished repeatedly against the Rams’ duo-concept runs, leaving gaping freeways in the middle of the defensive line for Kyren Williams and Blake Corum to romp through. The Niners’ coaching staff saw enough and effectively banished him from the interior rotation in the second half.