It wasn't hard to read between the lines when the league announced the Los Angeles Rams would host the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL's first-ever game down under, down in Melbourne, Australia.
Savvy move, Los Angeles. Well played.
Speaking from the annual NFL meeting, joining Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio and Chris Simms (h/t 49ers Webzone), Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan and Green Bay Packers head coach Mike LaFleur spoke about the Australia game. And when LaFleur hinted at the Rams lobbying the league to have San Francisco be the down-under Week 1 opponent, Shanahan left no doubts.
"I know for a fact they did, and that's what's so bothersome," Shanahan responded. "Hopefully, the league will do right and let us play the Rams in Mexico, since we've got to go out of the country twice, and they requested us. I'm requesting them in Mexico—not that that gives us an advantage, it's just fair to make them go out of the country [twice]."
The 49ers have the unfortunate designation of playing not once, but twice out of the country. Per reports, Week 11's game will feature the Niners as the home team in Mexico City.
Per NFL EVP of Media Distribution Hans Schroeder, the 49ers' Mexico City game will be in Week 11. He said the league will likely wait until the full schedule release to announce the opponent. Same for the other international games whose non-host teams aren't already known.
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) March 31, 2026
It's highly unlikely the league will have the Rams play San Francisco twice out of the country, meaning Shanahan and Co. won't have that luxury of enacting some revenge on L.A. for the Week 1 bout all the way across the globe in the southern hemisphere.
Shanahan and others have already expressed how the Australia game provides no benefit to his team, and merely surviving the trip injury-free might be the only realistic goal.
Plus, with it being a divisional rivalry game within a stacked NFC West, it's not as if the bout is a meaningless affair.
If there is any saving grace, at least it's Week 1. And the Mexico City game is much later in the season, even if it won't be against Los Angeles.