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The Los Angeles Rams entered the 2026 NFL season as the favorite to win the Super Bowl, but after a disastrous Week 1 performance, you have to wonder if this team is as good as we all thought.
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In a neutral-site game played at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia, the San Francisco 49ers scored an early-season upset on the Rams with a dominant 27-7 victory in a game where the Rams didn’t look anything like a true Super Bowl contender.
Now, we have to wonder if this team just had a bad first week, or if they are an overrated squad that won’t win the Super Bowl.
Matthew Stafford, Rams Offense Struggle Badly
The biggest problem for the Rams in Week 1 was the poor quarterback play of Rams QB Matthew Stafford, the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player.
Against the 49ers, Stafford completed just 15/25 passes for zero touchdowns, one interception, and just 155 yards and a 61.2 passer rating.
It was the first time that Stafford was held off the scoresheet since Week 17 of the 2024 NFL Season, as he had a touchdown pass in every single game last year.
For a Rams team that just handed the 38-year-old Stafford a big contract extension, they surely need better play from him going forward.
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The good news for the Rams is that this was only the first week of the young season, so there is plenty of time to turn things around.
Stafford was not good against the 49ers, and Rams head coach Sean McVay admitted that he also didn’t come up with a good enough game plan to defeat San Francisco.
So, both men are to blame for the Rams’ poor showing, as are most of the reasons for the team’s offense, as everyone except for RB Kyren Williams was held off the scoresheet.
With the long travel to Australia a legitimate excuse, the Rams can chalk up Week 1 to a bad week.
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But if this happens again in Week 2, people are going to start worrying.
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Myles Garrett Doesn’t Live Up To The Hype
The Rams made a massive trade during the offseason when they sent Jared Verse and three premium draft picks to the Cleveland Browns for EDGE Myles Garrett, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Garrett will more than likely still end up having a huge season for the Rams, but in Week 1, he was like Waldo — nowhere to be found.
Not only did Garrett not record a sack, which is his speciality, but he didn’t even have a single tackle, which is just unbelievable when you think about it.
To put it in perspective, Rams WR Puka Nacua even had a tackle in the game — that’s how invisible Garrett was.
Given the massive price that Los Angeles paid to acquire Garrett, they need him to be far better going forward.
He can get a pass because it’s Week 1 in a different country and the whole team struggles, but when you only play 17 games in a season, you don’t get many more passes.
If the Rams are going to win the Super Bowl this year, then the entire defensive unit needs to be far superior to what it was in Week 1.
The good news is that DT Aaron Donald will soon return to the Rams, but even he might not be enough if the team plays as poorly as it did against San Francisco.
The Rams will most likely still make the playoffs this season.
But everyone needs to be better — far better — than they played in Week 1, or else it could be a disastrous season for the Rams.
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This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 12:33 PM.