If anyone had any questions about whether the San Francisco 49ers or Los Angeles Rams had the smarter travel schedule in Week 1 down in Australia, the 27-7 final score in favor of San Francisco seemed to be a pretty definitive answer.
It’s an open question as to whether San Francisco’s decision to go to Australia early will have negative effects in Week 2, though. The 49ers return to California, and then it will probably take several days for them to fully get used to being back in the United States.
The good thing is the Niners don’t have practice until Wednesday of next week, so they should have plenty of time to adjust and get back in the swing of things, but then they will have to take on the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
The Rams get an extra day of rest as they will play on Monday night, which is very nice of the NFL to give them that advantage. But they have to be feeling like they just got punched in the gut after all this talk about them being a “super team,” only for the Niners to dominate them in Week 1. They will at least not take as long to adjust back to Pacific time.
49ers hopefully won't face too much jet lag in Week 2
As for the Niners, the fear is they'll have a big letdown against Miami. The Dolphins are not expected to be good this season, and on paper, they shouldn’t stand much of a chance against San Francisco. But it could easily turn into a trap game, given the fact the 49ers are returning from a foreign land.
They’re riding high after embarrassing a divisional rival many think will make it to the Super Bowl, but the Niners have to be careful not to be overly confident going forward. There weren’t many weaknesses in their performance in Melbourne, but there’s always things they can clean up.
They did go up against an opponent that was sluggish and didn’t even seem like it wanted to be there, whereas the Dolphins could easily come into Week 2 with energy and a “nothing to lose” mentality, which could catch the 49ers off guard if they aren’t careful.
The talent disparity should still allow San Francisco to take care of business, but the effects of coming back from Australia could be very real. Thankfully, strength and conditioning coach Dustin Perry seemed to have the perfect plan to have the 49ers ready to play in Week 1, so odds are he and his team have thought ahead on how to get the most out of the Niners in Week 2.
They need that, because the only way the high of beating the Rams in Week 1 could be ruined is if the Niners get sloppy, come out sluggish, and lose to a lesser opponent like the Dolphins.
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