Rich: What the 49ers Did So VERY Right in Punking the Rams to Kick Off Their Season

On any given Friday that's really a Thursday, anything can happen. Rich opened with that twist on the old NFL saying, and then made the case that the 49ers did not just beat the Rams in Melbourne. They reminded everyone of something the media forgot.

Rich owned his part in the hype. The Rams had the reigning MVP. They added Trent McDuffie, a 25-year-old "stallion of a cornerback." They added Myles Garrett, the reigning defensive player of the year, which lit the pilot light under Aaron Donald. Rich and plenty of others fell all over themselves waiting for football to be played.

"And we stopped talking about the defending Super Bowl champs and the San Francisco 49ers," Rich said, "who arrived early and stayed up late. And the team that arrived late looked like they never arrived at all."

Then San Francisco's stars showed up one by one. Mike Evans scored a touchdown. Deebo Samuel was there again. George Kittle was still there. Brock Purdy spread the ball around, including to Demarcus Robinson, and became the first 49ers quarterback to throw three touchdown passes in a season opener since Colin Kaepernick opened the 2013 season. Nick Bosa was back. Fred Warner was back. Raheem Morris was there, and Kyle Shanahan, mustache gone, was too. So was Trent Williams.

There was a scare when De'Zhaun Stribling went down with what looked like an Achilles injury, though Rich noted it may not be one. "Thank goodness."

Rich is not apologizing for going off the cliff "Thelma and Louise style" about the Rams' offseason. But he said the 49ers showed exactly what it takes to beat them. An all-world left tackle to handle Garrett is a good start. Add an all-world running back, receiver, pass rusher, middle linebacker and tight end, an all-world coach, and a defensive coordinator everyone loves to play for. "You can beat anybody," Rich said. "And I guess we in the media kind of forgot that. And the 49ers had to go halfway around the world to remind us."

The Rams, meanwhile, looked tired. Garrett left the game saying he wasn't 100% and was thinking about his health more than playing free. Rich knows who makes a pass rusher feel that way. "Trent Williams," he said, a first ballot Hall of Famer, like Garrett will be.

Purdy also did what Steve Young keeps telling him to do, using his legs to escape the pocket and pick up first downs. The opening drive of the second half went right down the field. "And that second half, they punked the Los Angeles Rams. No other way to put it."

Rich pointed out how quickly the conversation flipped. There was an Overreaction Monday segment about the Rams being undefeated when they see the Seahawks in week 16, and a follow-up about when they would lose their first game. "Well, one game, that's it," came the reply from the table. Now the Rams are 0 and 1, and the 49ers are effectively a game and a half up because it was a division win.

San Francisco's numbers backed it up, including 205 yards receiving and 5.8 yards per carry. Rich singled out Kaelon Black out of Indiana, whom Shanahan is clearly going to use to spell Christian McCaffrey, who is now 30. Rich's son Cooper, who took McCaffrey with his first fantasy pick, was yelling at the screen as if Black were stealing from him. But once the third quarter started, it was the McCaffrey show, with 10 yards on each of his first two carries.

The best sign for San Francisco, Rich argued, was that Purdy threw three touchdowns to three different receivers, "none of them named McCaffrey." That is what the Niners want, not a McCaffrey-dependent offense, especially in week one of a marathon.

Shanahan joked about the calendar afterward. His son plays on Friday, and somehow he was going to land a day later and still make the game. On the travel strategy, he was careful. "Win or lose, I knew everyone was going to make a big deal about that for either team," Shanahan said. "You never know how much that factors into it. I like how we prepared. But more importantly, I liked how we played."

The 49ers posted the "sleep tight" celebration, which Rich pointed out was Fred Warner doing the move Steph Curry patented in San Francisco. The Rams had done their own take-a-nap celebration after an interception, so there was a little salt in it.

That is the rivalry. Sean McVay and Shanahan are both in year 10, and the Niners are 8 and 2 in the regular season on the road against the Rams, which 49ers fans love to use to troll Rams fans about road games feeling like home games. Rich set up one more Shanahan clip with that in mind.

"In terms of seeing the red, it was like both the games that we play versus the Rams at home in California," Shanahan said. What stood out most was the crowd singing throughout the game. "That really stuck out and wish we did that more in the US."

Now the Seahawks and 49ers both have a game on the Rams after one weekend. The 49ers' next three are at home against Miami, Arizona and Denver, followed by a trip to Seattle, a Monday night home game against Washington, and a visit to Atlanta before the bye. "That is some potential good eats for them," Rich said.

The moment that decided it came when the Rams, down 10, were stopped at the 1-inch line. Someone on set thought Puka Nacua got in, and noted you can't run a quarterback sneak with a 38-year-old "who can barely move." Then the 49ers drove 99 yards the other way.

"That was the game right there," Rich said.