I don't want to say that we should all start taking international travel tips from the Los Angeles Rams, but we all might want to start taking international travel tips from the Los Angeles Rams.

When it comes to taking an international trip, there's one opponent almost no one has figured out how to beat -- and that's jet lag. A trip to Europe can be absolutely miserable for the first 24 hours because you can't stay awake during the day and can't fall asleep at night, but that's nothing compared to what the Rams and 49ers will deal with this week when they head to Australia.

Both NFL teams are based in the Pacific Time Zone, and they'll travel to Melbourne, which has a 17-hour time difference from California. The game between the 49ers and Rams kicks off at 10:35 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, in Australia, which will actually be a Thursday night kickoff (8:35 p.m. ET/5:35 p.m. PT) in the United States. 

This could be a game where the team with the better travel plan actually gains an edge, which makes things interesting because the 49ers and Rams have two completely different philosophies for how they're going to handle the trip. 

The 49ers, who left for Melbourne on Wednesday, will arrive in Australia a week before kickoff so they can acclimate to the time change. The Rams, well, they'd prefer not to acclimate to anything.

The Rams have put together an unconventional travel plan that NFL teams might look to copy ... but only if it works.

Rams only going to Australia for about 24 hours

Based on how the Rams have played in international games under Sean McVay, it sure feels like they've cracked the code on international travel, which might explain why McVay has been so secretive about their travel plans to Australia.

Over the past month, McVay has been asked numerous times what the team's itinerary is going to look like, and he always finds a way to duck the question. McVay has offered only one hint about the team's travel plan, and that came back in July when he said the travel schedule for Australia would look similar to what the Rams did for London in 2025.

"It'll be a similar approach, and really the goal for us is to try to keep guys in as close to a rhythm and routine as possible," McVay said. "This is new to us, even going this far."

Last year, it felt like the Rams revolutionized international travel in the NFL when they became the first team ever to arrive in London just one day before their game. They landed in England on a Saturday, and the plan worked because they ended up destroying the Jaguars 35-7 on Sunday.

If the Rams stick to a similar plan, they'll arrive in Australia the day before the game. According to ESPN, the Rams are planning to leave Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 9. When the Rams travel for a normal road game, they like to arrive in the road city the evening before the game, and that appears to be the plan here. If they leave L.A. at 9 a.m. PT, the flight is about 16 hours, so they'd arrive in Melbourne around 6 p.m. on Thursday, just 16.5 hours before kickoff.

Arriving in Australia less than 24 hours before kickoff might sound risky, but it's hard to argue with the Rams' philosophy because it's worked so well. Under McVay, the Rams are 3-0 both straight up and against the spread in international games, outscoring their opponents 92-17.

Some teams will spend the entire week abroad when they play an international game, but the Rams have always kept their trips short since hiring McVay in 2017. 

  • 2017 London (arrived on Friday before Sunday game): Rams 33-0 over Cardinals (Rams -3)
  • 2019 London (arrived on Friday before Sunday game): Rams 24-10 over Bengals (Rams -12)
  • 2025 London (arrived on Saturday before Sunday game): Rams 35-7 over Jaguars (Rams -3)

The decision to go with their unprecedented plan for London last year was definitely risky because they were playing a Jaguars team that has played more games in England than anyone. If anyone knows how to handle the travel for a London game, it's the Jags, but the Rams destroyed them anyway.

It worked last year, but London only has an eight-hour time difference from Pacific Time. This is more than double that.

For Los Angeles, there are multiple advantages to showing up in Melbourne the day before the game. 

For one, the Rams won't really have to adjust to Australian time. When the game kicks off at 10:35 a.m. in Melbourne, it's going to feel more like 5:35 p.m. PT to them. For the 49ers, who are spending the week in Australia, it's actually going to feel like a 10:35 a.m. start. NFL teams simply aren't accustomed to kicking off that early, but for the Rams, it won't feel like 10:35 a.m. since their bodies will still be on Pacific Time.

The Rams' travel schedule should also set them up well for Week 2. With the 49ers spending the week in Australia, it's going to take them multiple days to readjust to Pacific Time once they return to the United States. That could impact their preparation for Week 2, although that might not matter since San Francisco will face a Miami Dolphins team that's expected to be one of the worst in the NFL.

On the Rams' end, they'll likely get home from the game on Friday night, Sept. 11, and at that point, they won't have to readjust for Week 2. The Rams will keep their body clocks on Pacific Time while they're gone, so they should be in good shape heading into their second game. It also helps that the NFL scheduling office did the Rams a favor for Week 2: They don't play until Monday night, so they'll get an extra day of rest before facing the Giants at SoFi Stadium.

Surviving the flights to and from Australia might end up being one of the biggest challenges for both teams. Back in February, Matthew Stafford half-jokingly said he was worried about how his back would hold up on the long trip.

"Seems like a long flight and I hope my back's not too sore afterwards," Stafford said.

49ers not buying Rams' travel philosophy 

The 49ers decided not to copy the Rams' travel strategy, mostly because they don't think it will work for a trip this long. They decided not to travel the week of the game because they didn't think it would give them enough time to acclimate to the time difference.

"Usually when you travel with a [16]-hour flight, you don't want to get there the day before because you lose like a whole day there or two and you're just messed up," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said this offseason.

If Shanahan and the 49ers are right, the Rams' plan to arrive in Melbourne one day before the game could backfire.

"The people we've talked to, you don't feel normal until like the third or fourth day," Shanahan said. "So, we'd like to go out seven days early. But since it takes a day and a half to travel there, we're going to go nine."

The 49ers left for Australia on Wednesday (Sept. 2) and will arrive on Friday (Sept. 4).

According to 49ers general manager John Lynch, the team spoke with multiple experts before deciding to head to Australia a week before the game.

"We didn't really focus on what the Rams were doing," Lynch told KNBR on Tuesday, via 49ers Web Zone. "We focused on doing a study from every angle, from talking to sports science people, from talking to sleep experts."

The NFL probably likes the fact that the 49ers are leaving earlier, especially since it's the league's first game ever in Melbourne. The NFL is trying to grow the game abroad, and having a team spend an entire week in a country that's never hosted a regular-season game certainly helps.

For San Francisco, the decision to leave early was a no-brainer.

"It became clear to us ... that the best logistics for this trip, to put our players in the best position for success, not only down in Australia, but for the rest of the year, [involved leaving early]," Lynch said.

As you can see, these two teams couldn't disagree more on the optimal travel plan for this game. There will probably be a lot of curious teams around the NFL tuning in to see how each club plays, especially early in the game.

The NFL is a copycat league, and if the Rams steamroll the 49ers, there's a good chance you'll start to see other teams shorten their international trips in the future. Basically, the Rams' plan could forever change the way NFL teams think about international travel. 

However, if the Rams lose, it will likely be business as usual for international games, with each team sticking to what it thinks works best.

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