The NFL season officially started this week. Among the first games of the season was the Los Angeles Rams vs the San Francisco 49ers. This was an international game played in Melbourne, Australia. This offseason the Rams acquired Myles Garrett, a defensive end and defensive player of the year from the Browns in a blockbuster trade. They also convinced a former Rams star and defensive tackle Aaron Donald to come out of retirement. They made some splashes and flashy moves and retained a number of their best players on both offense and defense. They were talked about a lot in the offseason. They were the superbowl favorite going into the season and heavily favored over the 49ers who’ve had a preseason plagued by injuries and scandals.
However to the shock of almost everyone in the football world the 49ers took a win in Australia. Not only did they win but they dominated. They held the Rams to a single touchdown while they went on to score again and again, ultimately scoring 20 more points then their week 1 opponent, as the game ended with a final score of 27-7.
The football world was shocked. No one knew what to think. The Rams’ roster and their eventful offseason against an injured and scandal filled offseason for the 49ers. On paper it was a cakewalk but on the field it was a different story. The Rams by all rights and logical standards should’ve won but they didn’t. Theories started to emerge as to why they had lost. Some people said that Myles Garrett was injured and that’s why. Others said that Aaronn Donald didn’t play and that’s why. Some people blamed the Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford saying that he was too old. The prevailing theory in the end was that the Rams were simply not prepared.
The game was played in a different country. That’s important to note due to different time zones and possible jet lag. The 49ers had considered this and decided to fly to Melbourne a week in advance so that they could acclimate to their new time zone and combat any jet lag that they might feel. The Rams however flew less than 48 hours before the game leaving no adequate time for preparation. It was a coaching and management decision that ended up being a tactical error. However Stephen A. Smith, a prominent sports analyst and host of ESPN’s First Take, offered a different point of view. These travel plans weren’t just a tactical error, it was because they were overconfident. He argued that the Rams didn’t adequately prepare by giving themselves time to acclimate because they were too good and didn’t think they would have to prepare that much for a game against the 49ers. He called their lack of preparation disrespectful and arrogant. In this blog post I will be analyzing that claim. Is there evidence to support that or is it a baseless opinion.
The first thing to do is to clearly establish Stephen A. Smith’s claim. His claim is that the Rams lack or preparation was not just a tactical error and based off of overconfidence. On first take he says at different times throughout the show specifically that the Rams lack of preparation was “disrespectful and arrogant” He offers this point of view but he doesn’t provide any evidence of disrespect or arrogance from the Rams players or staff to support this aspect of the claim. We have now established what his claim officially is now it is time to verify it.
Stephen A. Smith says that the 49ers showed up in Melbourne a week early for the game whereas the rams only showed up a little more than a day before. Both ESPN and NFL.com confirm that the 49ers showed up approximately a week before the game to acclimate properly. And the New York Times and FOX Sports confirm that the Rams traveled to Melbourne roughly
a day before the game.
However, the real claim was that The Rams showing up that late and not leaving time to adequately prepare for the game was due to arrogance and was disrespectful to the 49ers. After researching I could not find any evidence to back up that claim. I went to multiple sports sites including Fox sports, Yahoo sports and many others. I looked into local sports writing in the Los Angeles area and Rams blogs. The 49ers did show up significantly early to the game. Which could have easily contributed to their stellar performance and the Rams showed up considerably later which may have contributed to their poor performance. However there is no evidence that this came out of a place of disrespect or arrogance. In the end, Stephen A. Smith’s claim does not pass analysis. I could find no evidence supporting his claim.
I believe that my steps in analyzing this claim were valuable. I was able to find information and read about the Rams from multiple sources including national sports sites, local sports writing, and team centered media. Looking at a claim from multiple perspectives ensures a thorough process in which I’m unlikely to miss important information. This process is important because it allows a reader to form their own opinion and individual thoughts on a topic of their choosing.