In the first "Thursday Night Football" game of the season, we technically have a Friday afternoon game, as the Los Angeles Rams "host" the division rival San Francisco 49ers in the first NFL game game that will be played in Melbourne, Australia.
The Rams were the team of the offseason, what with their dramatic defensive makeover coming off a season where they lost in the NFC title game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. They added the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Myles Garrett, plus another former All-Pro in Trent McDuffie. If that wasn't enough, they were able to lure three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald out of retirement for another Super Bowl run. It looks like a whole new unit heading into 2026, and it should better complement the explosive offense they featured last year.
The 49ers, meanwhile, had an eventful offseason as well. They signed Mike Evans. They traded for Osa Odighizuwa. They're bringing three stars back from major injuries in George Kittle, Fred Warner and Nick Bosa. They hired a new defensive coordinator in Raheem Morris. But coach Kyle Shanahan was injured in a serious car accident. Owner Jed York was arrested. They lost Ricky Pearsall for the season during training camp. There's a lot going on here, and not all of it is good.
Now, we get to see these two teams do battle in the season opener. It should be fascinating. But before we go through some of the key storylines, here's a look at how you can watch the game.
Where to watch Rams vs. 49ers live
Date: Thursday, Sep. 10 | Time: 8:35 p.m. ET
Location: Melbourne Cricket Ground (Melbourne, Australia)
Streaming: Netflix
Follow: CBS Sports App
Odds: Rams -3.5, O/U 48.5 via DraftKings Sportsbook
Key storylines
Travel plans: As our John Breech detailed last week, these two teams handled the trip to Australia in very different ways. The 49ers, for their part, arrived nearly a week ago and spent the lead-up to the game in Australia. The Rams, by contrast, are spending barely 24 hours in Melbourne after arriving Tuesday. No matter what happens in this game, there is going to be scrutiny about the losing team's travel plan, especially because they used such disparate strategies.
Myles Garrett's debut: The reigning Defensive Player of the Year arrived in Los Angeles this offseason in a trade with Cleveland for Jared Verse and first-, second- and third-round picks. He will soon be playing on the same defensive line as Donald, though we'll have to wait at least a week to see that. Still, Garrett racked up a record-setting 23 sacks last year while playing for a decrepit Cleveland Browns team, so it'll be fascinating to see what he can do while playing for a team that will actually hold a lead every once in a while. He plays on the right side of the line more often than not (or at least he did in Cleveland), so that could mean he matches up quite often with All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, and that'll be quite the battle to watch on Thursday night.
George Kittle's return: Kittle tore his Achilles early in the 49ers' wild card victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Incredibly, he's not just not starting the season on the phsically unable to perform list, but he is actually going to be active for Week 1. That is a remarkable recovery time, considering he tore the Achilles just south of eight months ago. Kittle, though, is going to play most of this season at 33 years old, and much of his game has been built off of strength and explosiveness throughout his career. The strength is easy to see returning considering that the man is built like an Adonis, but we'll have to watch closely to see if he can regain the same level of explosion that has made him the NFL's best yards-after-catch producer at the tight end position throughout most of his career.
L.A.'s new-look secondary: The Rams didn't just bring in Garrett this offseason; they also traded for McDuffie and signed Jaylen Watson to remake their defensive backfield after it was torched by the Seattle Seahawks in two late-season matchups, including the NFC title game. McDuffie is a versatile piece who can play both outside or in the slot, and it'll be interesting to see how much time he spends lined up inside compared with Quentin Lake. Watson is more of a pure perimeter corner, but the Rams needed to upgrade at that spot after the performance of this unit down the stretch of last season. They'll have their work cut out for them in Week 1 with Kittle, Evans, Deebo Samuel and rookie De'Zhaun Stribling challenging them inside and out, and how defensive coordinator Chris Shula chooses to deploy his personnel to handle that group will be something to watch out for.
Fred Warner and Nick Bosa's returns: Warner suffered a broken and dislocated ankle that ended his 2025 season in Week 6. He worked to try to return for the playoffs, but wasn't able to make it back. Bosa suffered a torn ACL in Week 3, marking the second time his season was cut short by that specific injury. Each of those players is among the best at his position, and Warner is widely considered the single-best off-ball linebacker in all of football. The 49ers are still dealing with some injury issues on defense after losing Alfred Collins to a torn patella this week and putting Mykel Williams on the PUP list, so they'll need Warner and Bosa to be at the peak of their powers in order to deal with what should again be an efficient and explosive Rams offense.
Matthew Stafford's encore: The reigning NFL MVP is coming off a season where he completed 65% of his passes at an average of 7.9 yards per attempt, throwing for a league-high 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns while being intercepted just eight times. He returns just about all of his supporting cast, and he still has Sean McVay calling the plays to put him in position to succeed. Puka Nacua and Davante Adams will test this San Francisco secondary on the outside, and the Rams have very high hopes for second-year tight end Terrance Ferguson to emerge as a consistent tertiary option in the passing game alongside them. Stafford, though, is still a 38-year-old quarterback with back issues, and he did combine for just 44 touchdown passes in the two previous seasons before throwing 46 last year. Which version of him will we see this year? We're about to find out.
Christian McCaffrey's workload: CMC is coming off a ridiculous season wherein he led the NFL with 413 touches, then racked up another 37 more in two playoff games. That's an absurd 450 touches across 19 games played. The last three times McCaffrey has led the league in touches (2019 and 2023), he has gotten injured the following year. That's obviously the worst-case scenario, and we should all hope it doesn't happen; but he's a 30-year-old running back with a lot of tread on his tires, so it's a realistic possibility that has to be managed throughout the season. Shanahan has basically never managed McCaffrey's workload, though, despite often saying that he wants to. Will he actually use another back more often this year? That's something to keep an eye on early in the season.
Prediction
The Rams are, unsurprisingly, my pick to win the Super Bowl this season. So original, I know. The roster is just that loaded, though, and I think we are going to see that in terrifying fashion right from the first game of the season. The 49ers are still working through some injury returns for some of their key players, and that's not exactly an ideal place to be against a team that comes in at full strength.
Pick: Rams 31, 49ers 21
