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Former NFL star Ndamukong Suh was not a fan of the Rams’ heavily dissected travel approach in their recent loss to the 49ers in Australia.
“We were just talking about the Australia game and the asinine decision that the LA Rams made,” Suh said at the Front Office Sports Asset Class event Tuesday. “That’s a legitimate take that I will back up and say they made a dumb decision.”
Suh, who is now part of Sky Sports’ NFL coverage in both the U.S. and Europe, criticized the Rams for going to Australia just a day before their game, which kicked off on September 10 at 10:35 a.m. local time. The 49ers went overseas a full week prior.
Los Angeles, the preseason Super Bowl favorite, looked flat in a 27–7 loss to its division rival.
The Rams had previously been 3–0 in international games, using a similar travel strategy as Australia in a 2025 win over the Jaguars in London.
“If I’m a head coach, I’m going to make this trip Week 1. Bring your family. Do everything. You get the first two days to enjoy yourself. New continent, new everything. Enjoy that, and then we’re gonna lock in for the game,” Suh said. “And the 49ers, in my opinion, did that. And they executed the game in easy fashion.”
Rams head coach Sean McVay said postgame after his loss that he didn’t think his team’s travel plans were the reason for their result. His plan was based on the idea that the Rams could stay on California time despite the long flight and reap the benefits of sleeping in their own beds and training in their own facility for as long as possible.
Suh played in the NFL from 2010 to 2022, a stretch which included a 2018 stint with McVay’s Rams. However, Suh says he feels comfortable criticizing his former coach because “they did what they did, and they got their result.”
Former NBA player and ESPN analyst Jay Williams, who was on the Asset Class panel with Suh, said that the Rams missed an opportunity to do fan outreach in a new market. Rams-49ers was the first-ever NFL regular season game held in Australia. The Rams were the designated home team in Melbourne.
Williams added that coaches are too wrapped up in their own work to care about media comments.
“Most of the time, coaches are so myopic and fixated on their teams and all the details surrounding scouting reports, getting prepared for the next game,” Williams said. “That they have a better proclivity to block out a lot of things that are said in the media.”
“Now, every once in a while, you get somebody that’s super sensitive. I get that, but I think those are rare and few,” Williams continued.
