The Los Angeles Rams and 49ers have turned Week 1 of the NFL season into a study of contrasts. They’re taking opposite approaches to the entire week.
Nearly 8,000 miles of travel stand between these two NFC West rivals, the longest road trip the NFL has ever staged, to play a Friday morning game crafted to land squarely in North America’s Thursday night spotlight.
A Race Against The Body Clock
Sean McVay’s team is betting on science, as they will land in Melbourne, Australia, just a day before kickoff, a decision rooted in sports‑science research and the belief that the best way to handle a massive time shift is to avoid it altogether. Maintaining a normal home routine instead of acclimating to the 17-hour time difference from the West Coast.
“The Rams actually had people from their organization fly from Los Angeles to Melbourne and back, tracking when and how much they felt the effects of the jet lag,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported. “They came to the conclusion that the best way to handle it would be to prepare at home, fly as close to the game as possible, let adrenaline carry them through the game, and then fly right home and rest up on the back end.”
Melbourne is a different universe for the human body clock.
The Rams are well‑versed in handling these situations; McVay holds a perfect 3‑0 record in international contests, outscoring his opponents 92-17. This trip is different, though; London is nine hours ahead of Los Angeles. Melbourne is seventeen. That’s where the Rams’ sports-science gamble comes into focus.
Global time zones twist the body’s sense of morning and night, and cognitive sharpness becomes the main concern.
According to Dr. Jesse Morse, a double board-certified family and sports physician in Miami with expertise in non-operative orthopedics and regenerative medicine, the Rams’ approach assumes their players’ bodies won’t have sufficient time for jet lag to develop, thereby minimizing any disruption to circadian rhythms.
It’s bold. It’s modern, and very McVay.
The 49ers Full Immersion Approach
The 49ers see it differently; they were wheels up, leaving on the night of Sept. 2, arriving in Melbourne a full week before the game. Their philosophy is to embrace the time difference and get their players fully acclimated to settle into their environment long before kickoff.
“I just did the Dublin game TCU-North Carolina,” ESPN’s Jordan Rodgers said on Get Up. “We red-eyed over their Wednesday night and arrived around 9 a.m. Thursday morning, I felt like a walking zombie for the first 48 hours, and I’m 38 years old; Matthew Stafford is 38 years old. That’s a much longer flight [Melbourne] than London or Ireland. The longer I could spend time there, the better.”
After weighing every option, the 49ers didn’t hesitate, and by late spring, they’d committed to a full week down under.
Why International Travel Is Reshaping Competitive Edges For Rams And 49ers
Former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver John Brown once told Dr. Morse that after flying from Arizona to London, it took him nearly three weeks to feel normal again. His experience as a former professional football player highlights the profound toll international travel can take on elite athletes.
“Don’t underestimate the impact of international travel on an elite athlete, Dr. Morse wrote via X, injuries, and the natural circadian rhythm.”
This NFL season, half the league will face that international travel challenge. It’s also a copycat league.
If the Rams start fast, as they did against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London last year, other NFL teams traveling internationally to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, London, Paris, France, Madrid, Spain, or Munich, Germany, later this season could use a similar strategy.
It would prove that modern sports science can bend time zones. One way or another, Australia’s travel schedule will dictate how NFL teams travel internationally.
