The San Francisco 49ers' commanding victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1 down in Australia pretty much showed head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad took the right approach to pregame travel and preparation—arriving a week in advance to acclimate to the time change.
Yet there was a lingering question: Would the Niners be impacted by the immense travel upon their return home, specifically, in Week 2's showdown at Levi's Stadium against the Miami Dolphins?
If final scores say anything, absolutely not.
San Francisco crushed the Dolphins 35-13, running away with the contest in the third quarter and getting to a point where Shanahan's starters got the rest of the afternoon off. And while Miami is a bottom-of-the-barrell rebuilding team, there were legitimate concerns Week 2 could present a proverbial trap game.
Well, the 49ers dispelled that worry.
'Rested' 49ers put all concerns of post-Australia travel to bed vs. Dolphins
The Niners found the end zone on each of their opening five drives, which the franchise hadn't done in 40 years. Shanahan's first two drives were methodical and time-consuming, then the offense exploded for 21 points in the third quarter.
Sure, San Francisco's run defense was shaky at times, but there were zero observable instances of players appearing sluggish or "out of it." Had there been, or had they lost, it would've been easy for pundits to suggest the 49ers were still affected by their Week 1 travel.
Instead, the Niners soundly won a game in dominating fashion, which is precisely what they needed to do, given the context.
"I don't look at it as a two-week package," Shanahan told the media postgame, via NBC Sports Bay Area's Tristi Rodriguez. "Everything's so week to week. So I was real proud of us after the first game, and now real proud of us after this game. We'll enjoy our weekend and night, and then get back in and get ready for Week 3 tomorrow.
"We knew that it would be a challenge, but getting the days off, and by the time everyone came to work, we were over the travel stuff."
NFL will closely observe how Rams respond in Week 2 to Australia travel
L.A., meanwhile, opted to travel to Australia less than two days before kickoff, attempting to treat it like a Pacific Time affair, which apparently backfired.
Yet Los Angeles got the added bonus of playing Monday Night Football in Week 2, hosting the 1-0 New York Giants in a primetime showdown that'll certainly get the talking heads, well... talking. Especially if the Rams still appear sluggish and jetlagged after losing to San Francisco the previous week down under.
It might even be somewhat unfair to head coach Sean McVay's squad, too, at least in light of the expectations. Should L.A. win but not in convincing fashion, there'll undoubtedly be raised questions about the lingering effects from the Australia game.
Particularly how Los Angeles went about its travel plans.
But that's no longer the 49ers' problem. They showed a way to properly handle such adversity, then proving again the issue wouldn't linger into the following week.
Now, it's the Rams' turn to provide some evidence, one way or another.
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