The 49ers return from dominating win in Australia to take on the Dolphins in home opener

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The scenario to start the season for the San Francisco 49ers couldn't have been much more challenging.

They traveled nearly halfway around the world to Australia where they dominated the Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams in a 27-7 victory.

The task on paper for Week 2 appears much simpler. The Niners take on the team with the longest odds to win it all this season as the biggest favorites in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins in their home opener on Sunday.

The approach for San Francisco (1-0) remains the same.

“I think the greatness in our team in general is having a coach like Kyle Shanahan, he paints the picture perfectly for the situation week to week," star linebacker Fred Warner said. "He did the same thing this week letting us know the challenge the Dolphins present and the challenge we have as a team to get better off the Rams game. It wasn’t a perfect game by any means, there’s things to clean up all across the board.”

Despite a few mistakes along the way in the opener, the results were overwhelmingly good.

Brock Purdy threw three touchdown passes, the offensive line allowed no sacks and cleared the way for 174 yards rushing and the defense shut down reigning MVP Matthew Stafford and the offense that led the NFL in scoring last season.

The Dolphins didn't have nearly as good an opener under first-year coach Jeff Hafley, losing 27-13 to a Las Vegas Raiders team that finished at the bottom of the standings last season.

Miami played 11 rookies in the game for a combined 436 snaps — the most snaps by rookies for any team in Week 1 since at least 2006 when that stat started being tracked by Sportradar.

The Dolphins stayed close to the Raiders into the third quarter before Las Vegas pulled away for the comfortable win. Now they have to contend with a far tougher team in the 49ers with a star-studded roster featuring players such as Warner, Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Mike Evans, Nick Bosa and Trent Williams.

“We understand who we’re playing and I understand all these players that we’re about to play against,” Hafley said. “This game is going to be about us taking a step forward. And I really mean that, that’s not coach talk.”

The Dolphins spent the week preparing for the game in California, practicing in wine country in Napa instead of traveling back to Florida following the opener in Las Vegas.

Miami (0-1) vs San Francisco (1-0)

When/where to watch: Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EDT, Fox

Latest odds: 49ers by 13 1/2.

Against the spread: Dolphins 0-1; 49ers 1-0.

Last week: Dolphins lost to the Raiders 27-13; 49ers beat the Rams 27-7.

Last meeting: Dolphins beat 49ers 29-17 on Dec. 22, 2024, in Miami

Series record: Dolphins lead 9-7.

Dolphins running game vs. 49ers run defense. Miami is hoping to rely on the run game this season with RB De'Von Achane the team's most potent offensive player and QB Malik Willis a running threat. They were held to just 74 yards on the ground last week and will need to do better against a San Francisco defense that gave up 122 yards on the ground to the Rams and has major questions along the defensive line.

— Miami is trying to avoid starting the season 0-2 for a second straight year.

— The Dolphins were tied for the most sacks allowed last week with five and were one of five teams, along with the 49ers, to have no sacks in the opener.

— Miami third-round pick Caleb Douglas led all rookies last week with five receptions for 94 yards.

— The Dolphins also got big performances from two rookie defenders with first-round pick Chris Johnson having 11 tackles, two passes defensed and a tackle for loss. Second-rounder Jacob Rodriguez had 14 tackles.

— The 49ers are seeking their fifth 2-0 start in 10 seasons under coach Kyle Shanahan. They made the playoffs the previous four with two trips to the Super Bowl.

— San Francisco allowed a league-low seven points last week and pitched a shutout in the second half. The Niners allowed only six first downs passing, tied for the second fewest in the league in Week 1.

— Rookie RB Kaelon Black's 65 yards rushing last week were the second most for a 49ers player in his NFL debut in the past 34 seasons and the most by any rookie last week.

— Warner had 11 tackles, one pass defensed and a forced fumble last week in his first game since a season-ending ankle injury last October. His 958 career tackles are the most for any San Francisco player since at least 2000.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Los Angeles Rams linebacker Omar Speights breaks up a pass intended for San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey during the first half of an NFL football game, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia. (AP Photo/Scott Barbour)

Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley watches from the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Demarcus Robinson celebrates after scoring against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half of an NFL football game, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia. (AP Photo/Scott Barbour)

Miami Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis (2) throws a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy celebrates after a runs against the Los Angeles Rams during the second half of an NFL football game, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

PHOENIX (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, a longtime Republican lawmaker from Arizona who shaped landmark water policies in the U.S. West and guided the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, has died. He was 84.

Kyl died Wednesday night from a neurological disorder, said Gordon James, a communications professional who is a longtime friend of the Kyl family. Kyl had withdrawn from public life in December 2025 after announcing he had been diagnosed with dementia.

Kyl spent almost three decades in Congress, serving in both chambers, and watched his party undergo a drastic transformation, with his career spanning Ronald Reagan’s presidency to President Donald Trump’s first term.

“Arizonans are mourning the loss of former U.S. Senator Jon Kyl,” Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a post. “Throughout his decades of public service in the House and Senate, he was a dedicated statesman who always cared deeply for our state.”

Former Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who considered Kyl a mentor, described the former senator in a February 2025 interview with The Associated Press as a true statesman and a “workhorse” among Washington, D.C.’s “showhorses.”

“If you saw him on the plane, he was sitting in the aisle, in coach, and he was reading,” Ducey said. “And he was reading potential bills or Senate business.”

Kyl rose to a leadership position during his last full term in the Senate, when his Republican colleagues selected him as minority whip. After retiring from politics in 2013 and becoming a lobbyist, Kyl returned to Congress briefly in 2018, when Ducey appointed him to fill the vacancy left by the late U.S. Sen. John McCain.

His appointment drew high praise from Trump, who said he was looking forward to working with “the extraordinary senator.” Kyl stayed for less than four months before rejoining lobbying firm Covington and Burling.

“At the federal level, and I regret to say that this is the case, but probably a lot of my better achievements were in preventing bad things from happening (rather) than forcing good things to happen,” Kyl said in a 2012 conversation with former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Kyl was born in Oakland, Nebraska, on April 25, 1942, and grew up in a rural farming district in Iowa that his father represented in the U.S. House. At 18, he headed southwest to attend the University of Arizona, where he met his wife, Caryll, and earned a law degree.

Before being elected for the first of his four terms in the House in 1987, Kyl was a key participant in shaping Arizona’s 1980 groundwater code as a lawyer representing a large water utility. The first-of-its-kind code created a regulatory framework for managing groundwater in the drought-stricken state, largely centering on the state’s population centers, including Phoenix and Tucson.

In 2004, Kyl authored legislation that provided one of the largest tribal water rights settlements, which, after a decades-long battle, gave the Gila River Indian Community enough water to fill nearly 313,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools annually. Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who later served as majority leader, called Kyl's work ethic “legendary” in a 2012 floor speech and said Kyl had labored mostly behind the scenes for 15 years to advance the settlement.

Former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake said he had long admired Kyl and appreciated the advice he offered when Flake started his political career. “The government needs people who are willing to serve a cause greater than their own self-interest, and that personified Jon,” Flake said. “He was a true public servant.”

Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy takes its name from him. Its director, Sarah Porter, said Kyl was generous with his time and an effective member of the state’s congressional delegation who took a practical approach to water policy. “He’s always sort of cared about the public good and been able to think about, ‘What will this mean for the generations to come?’” Porter said, adding that Kyl remained “quite a dynamo” until recent years, as his wife battled health problems.

Ducey said Kyl was a “giant” in the Senate, further describing him as serious, engaging, forthright and thoughtful. His biggest impacts, Ducey said, came from the way he kept the Republican caucus together in opposition to Obamacare and his staunch support of Israel.

Kyl also backed legislation to authorize construction of a fence stretching hundreds of miles along the U.S.-Mexico border. He later joined with Democrats to support a bill that would provide a path to citizenship and temporary guest-worker status for those in the U.S. without authorization. The proposal ultimately failed.

As a lobbyist, Kyl helped guide the confirmation of Trump-picked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. When Kyl returned to the halls of Congress in 2018, he was known as Kavanaugh’s chief Sherpa — an informal but widely known term for a nominee’s guide to the political tundra in the Senate.

In a statement disclosing his dementia diagnosis, Kyl harkened back to the words of Reagan, when the former president revealed his own Alzheimer’s diagnosis and said he was starting a journey that would lead him to the end of his life.

Kyl said he shared Reagan’s confidence for Arizona and the nation’s future, and that despite his diagnosis, he was a “very fortunate man.”

FILE - Senate Minority Leader Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., departs the Blair House in Washington, May 10, 2011, after a meeting on the legislative framework for deficit reduction. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. questions Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - President George W. Bush shares a laugh with, from left, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., after signing a bill into law, July 15, 2004, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., waits to be sworn-in by Vice President Mike Pence during his ceremonial swearing-in at the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Sept. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)