{"id":8895,"date":"2026-09-10T23:39:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T23:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8895"},"modified":"2026-09-10T23:39:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T23:39:20","slug":"live-49ers-updates-australia-welcomes-nfc-west-rivalry-with-rams-for-season-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8895","title":{"rendered":"Live 49ers updates: Australia welcomes NFC West rivalry with Rams for season opener"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>The 49ers\u2019 2026 season is starting unlike any other in franchise history, with an opening game nearer to the South Pole than Candlestick Park.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8893\">Nearly 100-year-old El Campanil Theatre in Antioch faces sale to church<\/a><\/p>\n<p>While the setting \u2014 the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia\u2019s second-most populous city \u2014 is new, the opponent is quite familiar: The 49ers are the road team \u2014 and 3 1\/2-point underdogs against the Los Angeles Rams, their longtime NFC West rivals.<\/p>\n<p>Coach Kyle Shanahan and his LA counterpart Sean McVay have long been connected from their days as assistants on Washington\u2019s offensive coaching staff in the early 2010s under Shanahan\u2019s father, Mike.<\/p>\n<p>One familiar Rams face won\u2019t be in the stadium with 100,000 screaming fans, though: Aaron Donald, signed back to the Rams after a two-year retirement, did not make the trek across the Pacific as he gets fully up to speed.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8891\">El Ni\u00f1o: Why chances are increasing for lots of rain this winter in the Bay Area and across California<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Still, the 49ers will have to contend with his new superstar partner on the defensive line, Myles Garrett, the NFL\u2019s reigning defensive player of the year acquired by the Rams this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>For the 49ers, they do have a pair of injury returns on their roster: George Kittle and Nick Bosa are expected to play. Kittle tore his Achilles tendon in a wild-card win over the Philadelphia Eagles in January, while Bosa tore his ACL midseason. Fred Warner, who nearly made a triumphant return in the playoffs from a gruesome ankle injury earlier last season, will also be back.<\/p>\n<p>As the Giants did six months ago, the 49ers are playing their first game of the season on Netflix. But Bay Area locals will be able to watch it on NBC, as well.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8889\">Sunday\u2019s Viva CalleSJ to explore some new streets in San Jose<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Follow along below for live updates on the game\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 49ers are facing the Super Bowl-favorite Rams at Melbourne Cricket Ground nearly 8,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Levi&#8217;s Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Live 49ers updates: Australia welcomes NFC West rivalry with Rams for season opener - 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