MELBOURNE, Australia - Mike Evans' first touchdown in red and gold was a two-yard fade in the corner.
The veteran wideout finished his San Francisco debut with six catches for 49 yards and that score on seven targets Friday as the 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams 27-7 in the NFL's first regular-season game in Australia, the team and Associated Press reported. Five of those receptions came before halftime for 47 yards.
The touchdown, early in the third, stretched the lead to 17-7 after Deebo Samuel's 45-yard kickoff return and a pair of Christian McCaffrey runs.
"Brock threw a great ball," Evans said afterward, per the 49ers. "We actually repped that a lot the last couple of weeks, so I was happy it paid off." Coach Kyle Shanahan called it his first game working with Evans and said it was useful "to have a type of receiver to throw a fade to like that at Red Zone."
Debut volume, then the fade
CBS Sports' box matches the 6-for-49-and-a-score line. Evans converted multiple third downs in the first half, including a 13-yard grab that kept the drive alive before Demarcus Robinson's 39-yard touchdown put San Francisco ahead 10-7. Shanahan's offense kept finding him on short and intermediate throws while Brock Purdy finished 25 of 34 for 205 yards and three touchdowns.
Robinson (2 catches, 50 yards, one score) and Samuel (6 for 48, one score) took the other touchdown throws. Evans did not need the deep ball; the 2-yard corner route over Jaylen Watson was enough to put his name on the Melbourne ledger.
Why the catch mattered in context
San Francisco scored the final 24 points after Kyren Williams' 5-yard touchdown had given Los Angeles a brief lead. The defense later stopped Matthew Stafford on fourth-and-goal from the 1, and Samuel's subsequent 15-yard touchdown made it 24-7. Eddy Pineiro's 56-yard field goal finished the scoring.