INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Rams needed just 60 minutes on Monday to show why they were Super Bowl favorites. Sean McVay needed just a few sentences afterward to finally put Australia behind him.
For two weeks, the Rams had allowed their season-opening trip to Melbourne to become a story about everything they seemed to resent about it. The distance. The disruption. The challenge of playing a football game halfway around the world. They arrived about 24 hours before kickoff, left immediately afterward and, somewhere in between, were blown out by the San Francisco 49ers.
They treated a historic opportunity like a punishment they were determined to serve as quickly as possible. Then they came home and kept having to talk about it.
On Monday, after a 28-6 victory over the New York Giants at SoFi Stadium, McVay finally gave the answer that had been missing. Asked about the difference in his team’s energy and execution, he turned the criticism toward the person responsible for putting his players in position to succeed.
“We have the right people. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. Sometimes you have a dumb ass coach that makes travel plans that put you in a bad spot," McVay said. "So there you go.”
Sean McVay: “Sometimes you have a dumbass coach that makes travel plans that put you in a bad position.” 😂 pic.twitter.com/dBJzHEgfjC
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) September 22, 2026
It was funny because McVay was willing to make himself the punchline. It mattered because underneath the joke was an acknowledgment that the Rams’ approach to Australia had failed, and the head coach was willing to own it.
That should have happened sooner. It was still good to hear.
There is no way to know whether arriving earlier would have changed the outcome against the 49ers. San Francisco deserves credit for what happened on the field, and no travel itinerary guarantees good blocking, sound tackling or a competitive football game. But the Rams controlled their preparation and the attitude they brought to the trip. Those were fair subjects for scrutiny before kickoff and even fairer subjects afterward.
An NFL season opener in Melbourne was always going to require adjustments. Arriving about a day before the game left little room for them. The Rams chose that approach, and when it went badly, their begrudging responses to questions about Australia made it harder to separate frustration with their own performance from frustration with having to be there at all.
That was the disappointing part. A game that could introduce the Rams to new fans and strengthen their connection to another country became something they appeared eager to escape. A team can take the competitive demands of an international game seriously and still appreciate the opportunity. The Rams never seemed comfortable doing both.
McVay’s answer Monday finally gave the conversation somewhere to go. He acknowledged that his decisions had put his players in a bad spot, giving them credit for the response while accepting responsibility for his part in the problem.
And his players gave him plenty to appreciate against the Giants.
The defense kept New York out of the end zone. Davante Adams caught eight passes for 195 yards with Puka Nacua sidelined. Matthew Stafford had the protection to find Adams and the trust to keep going to him. Aaron Donald brought an energy that was evident to his coach and quarterback before the game even began.
“I was so juiced,” Stafford said of Donald’s introduction. “He came running out of the tunnel and I couldn’t control myself. I was freaking fired up.”
McVay described Donald as someone who elevates the people around him. That was an especially fitting observation on a night when the Rams needed to show they could lift themselves out of the disappointment that had followed them home from Melbourne.
“I thought our guys came out and played great, played with a bunch of passion, energy, excited to be back home in SoFi,” Stafford said. “Our defense led the charge, played fantastic, kept them out of the end zone and obviously made some big plays, some turnovers, four-down stops, those things that we were able to rally on.”
The Rams still had mistakes to discuss. McVay pointed to offensive turnovers and the failure to get points at the end of the first half. Stafford talked about missed opportunities and the need for greater efficiency. A comfortable victory gave them something productive to work from without requiring anyone to pretend everything had been fixed.
That same standard should apply to their coach. McVay can make a bad decision, acknowledge it and learn from it. His players hear that message constantly. On Monday, they heard him apply it to himself.
When discussing his players’ mistakes, McVay offered a simple description of what he wanted next: “Hey, let’s do the next right thing.” That is easier to ask of a locker room when the head coach is willing to do it, too.
The Rams cannot redo their arrival in Melbourne or recover the opportunity they let slip away. They can decide how much longer that trip defines the beginning of their season. On Monday, their players took a step forward on the field, and McVay followed them at the microphone.
The joke will get replayed because of what he called himself. The reason it mattered was what he finally accepted: He had a role in what went wrong, and he owed his players a better plan. McVay and the Rams put that behind them and moved forward Monday night and showed why they are still the Super Bowl favorites.