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Kyle Shanahan defends Sean McVay’s blunder on 49ers-Rams opening season in Australia

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Cite

Martinez, V. (2026, September 19). Kyle Shanahan defends Sean McVay’s blunder on 49ers-Rams opening season in Australia. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/18/sports/kyle-shanahan-defends-sean-mcvays-blunder-on-49ers-rams-opening-season-in-australia/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-19 · by Valentina Martinez

Quick Summary

Kyle Shanahan defended Sean McVay's comments about not wanting to play in Australia again after the Rams' loss to the 49ers in Melbourne. Shanahan explained that travel fatigue makes games tougher and emphasized how challenging it is for teams when they have to travel long distances, especially internationally. He acknowledged the NFL’s business interest in expanding globally but noted the difficulties such trips present for players and coaches who thrive on a regular routine.
Written by AI on 2026-09-19, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 10, 2023, the Los Angeles Rams faced the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, losing 27-7 to a team they were considered Super Bowl favorites against. Following this defeat, Sean McVay, the Rams head coach, stated he hoped his team would never have to play in Australia again due to the challenges of traveling such long distances for games. When asked about similar comments on September 15th, Kyle Shanahan (the 49ers' head coach) defended McVay's remarks, emphasizing that additional travel makes game preparation more difficult and disrupts team routines crucial for success in NFL competition. The statement from McVay went viral, highlighting the logistical challenges teams face when playing international games far away from home.

Written for “Nfl Coaches Clash Remarks” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Nfl Coaches Clash Remarks
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
They arrived at the 11th hour and lost dismally. Now the LA Rams say they never want to play in Australia again Different event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 1 of 15 claims Outlet record 61/100
“Article A describes coach McVay's reaction after a loss, while Article B focuses on Shanahan defending McVay's comments about playing in Australia.”
How Rams plan to make Australia distant memory Different event
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 52 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A describes McVay's reflection on the Rams' trip to Australia, while Article B covers Shanahan defending McVay's comments about playing in Australia, involving a different context and participant.”
LA Rams coach hopes his NFL team never plays in Australia again Different event
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 1 of 17 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles discuss Sean McVay's comments about playing in Australia, Article A focuses on McVay's statement and the context of the Rams' loss to the San Francisco 49ers, while Article B discusses Kyle Shanahan's response defending McVay regarding those same comments.”
Rams’ Sean McVay wants no part of playing in Australia ‘ever again’ Different event
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 27 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles discuss Sean McVay's comments about not playing in Australia again, Article B focuses on Kyle Shanahan defending McVay's remarks, which is a different incident or reaction to the original comment.”
Whose house? Rams return home as Aaron Donald makes long-awaited comeback against Giants Different event
New York Post
Hedges 4 of 64 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses Kyle Shanahan's defense of Sean McVay regarding comments about playing in Australia, while Article B describes the actual game and aftermath between the Rams and 49ers in Melbourne.”
Gambles by Matt LaFleur and Sean McVay backfire on the NFL's opening weekend Different event
Toronto Star
Hedges 4 of 46 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A describes two separate events on NFL's opening weekend, while Article B focuses solely on Kyle Shanahan defending Sean McVay's comments about playing in Australia.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15411 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)
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Valentina Martinez
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Topics

49ers Australia Melbourne Rams Super Bowl

Subjects

49ers ORG · 3× Australia GPE · 3× Kyle Shanahan PERSON · 1× McVay PERSON · 1× Melbourne GPE · 1× NFL ORG · 1× Rams ORG · 1× Sean PERSON · 1× Sean McVay PERSON · 1× Shanahan PERSON · 1×

Narrative

His comments immediately went viral because of the team’s decision to fly into Melbourne late and the 27-7 beatdown handed to the Super Bowl favorites by the 49ers.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-19
🔮 Sean McVay said he hoped the Rams wouldn’t have to play in Australia ever again.
2026-09-19 · New York Post
Kyle Shanahan defends Sean McVay’s blunder on 49ers-Rams opening season in Australia · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 0 hedged)

Sean McVay said he hoped the Rams wouldn’t have to play in Australia ever again. asserted
Rams → say → Australia
His comments immediately went viral because of the team’s decision to fly into Melbourne late and the 27-7 beatdown handed to the Super Bowl favorites by the 49ers. asserted
comments → go → 49ers
Kyle Shanahan was asked the same question Friday about returning to Australia, and he quickly defended McVay in his response. asserted
he → ask → response
“You’re really trying to get me in trouble,” Shanahan said. asserted
Shanahan → try → trouble
“It’s just, you don’t want it to come off the wrong way, how you word it. asserted
you → ’ → it
Just like Sean doesn’t want to. asserted
Sean → want → ?
Every game is so tough and what you put into it for seven days. asserted
you → put → days
Anytime you put more travel on it, it makes it a lot harder. asserted
it → put → it
“That’s something no team really wishes for, whether it’s 16 hours away or five hours away. asserted
it → ’ → ?
That’s why you always hope it’s timed out where you can have a bye week after. asserted
you → ’ → week
Football players and coaches thrive on a routine week in and week out. asserted
players → thrive → routine
When that routine is disrupted, it can make preparation for a game difficult. asserted
preparation → disrupt → game
On the other hand, the expansion of the sport is important, and the 49ers embraced their weeklong trip to Australia. asserted
49ers → embrace → Australia
San Francisco fulfilled its international duties and kicked off the 2026 season in dominant fashion. asserted
Francisco → fulfil → fashion
Now, it’s time to see whether the 49ers will continue trending upward with a Week 2 matchup against the Dolphins. asserted
49ers → ’ → Dolphins
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