Credit to Devin McCourty for making me think about the drawbacks of having too many star players on one team. It was a little late to hear it because I already had submitted my 2026 NFL playoff predictions, and yes, like many others, I picked the stacked Rams to win it all.  

Still, it was insightful to hear McCourty share his thoughts on the NBC broadcast on Wednesday night about how the Rams having 11 team captains could backfire for coach Sean McVay. When adversity hits, it’s not ideal to have so many voices ready to chime in. Maybe having that many team captains was McVay’s way of not hurting the egos of all his star players, which is probably not the best approach for managing a locker room. Perhaps I’m reaching here, but what McCourty said about this topic was at least something to think about. 

On a related note, where the heck was McCourty to stop me from going chalk on my playoff bracket? I’m not saying I regret picking the Rams to win the Super Bowl after their ugly 27–7 loss against the 49ers on Thursday in Melbourne, Australia because that would be a Week 1 overaction and reinforcements are on their way with Aaron Donald back home waiting for the team to get back from Australia. But clearly, we should have spent more time the past three months thinking about the downside of having too much talent.

As for a second thought, we should have spent more time talking about all of the 49ers’ notable offseason acquisitions. Turns out, Mike Evans can be pretty dangerous when playing in the scheme of 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan. (Some of us did take the time to think about this new partnership.) Deebo Samuel Sr. isn’t really a new player, but it seems he also found the fountain of youth now playing for the 49ers again after spending a long season with the Commanders last year. Evans finished with six catches for 49 yards and a touchdown, and Samuel contributed six catches, 48 yards and a touchdown. 

There was plenty made about what this new-look Rams defense could do with Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie, but there were times on Thursday that this unit resembled the one from last year that struggled to defend downfield. Then again, Garrett didn’t really help much. He didn’t register a stat and was removed from the game for the final quarter. As for another thought, it helps to participate in training camp, which Garrett did very little of due to pain in his lower leg. Here’s another thought: Even the best edge rusher on the planet could have trouble against the wall that is Trent Williams. 

Free-agent addition Jaylen Watson had a rough Rams debut. He appeared lost on Brock Purdy’s 39-yard touchdown bomb to former Rams wideout Demarcus Robinson, which gave San Francisco a 10–7 halftime advantage.

Even with Garrett applying pressure and McDuffie in coverage, that still wasn’t enough to contain Evans on money downs—four of his first five receptions were third-down conversions. For four dominant quarters, the 49ers managed to do a lot more with their new pieces than their NFC West rivals, who resembled the U.S men’s Olympic basketball team from 2004. 

Also, it wasn’t just the new-look defense that needed time to get on the same page. Many assumed the Rams’ offense would pick up where it left off last season. However, Matthew Stafford (12-of-25, 155 yards, one interception) looked out of sorts early against the 49ers’ defense, which also had a notable new player. San Francisco acquired defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa in a trade with the Cowboys, and he made his presence felt early, hitting Stafford on the interception to ignite the drive that turned into Purdy’s deep connection to Robinson in the second quarter. 

New 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris should have also been talked about more in the offseason. He outcoached McVay, who had no answers for San Francisco’s unique pass-rush packages after spending months providing answers for why his loaded team can handle the hype of being a heavy preseason favorite to win the Super Bowl. 

And here I am talking more about the Rams when this should be more about the 49ers reminding the football public that their Super Bowl window is still wide open. Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and George Kittle weren’t offseason acquisitions, but it seemed like it in the season opener because Bosa and Warner didn’t play most of last season due to injury and Kittle was recently cleared from the Achilles injury he sustained in the postseason.

We were way too quick to think about what this Rams team could do and in the process forgot about that the 49ers won 12 games and advanced to the divisional round despite the wave of injuries.

Again, it’s too early to overreact. Instead, let’s use this blowout in Australia as a reminder that what happens in the offseason doesn’t mean much when the games kick off. The 49ers had a drama-filled summer with a laundry list of injuries, and perhaps somewhere in a Netflix office, there were talks about doing a documentary on the Rams possibly going undefeated. 

Welp, guess that’s why we play the games.