From NFC showdowns to a London matchup, these five games will be key in determining how far the Rams can go in 2025.<\/p>\n
The 2025 NFL schedule is out<\/a>, and for the Los Angeles Rams<\/a>, the path to playoff contention is anything but easy. As the team looks to build on last year\u2019s progress and take the next step, a handful of games stand out as measuring sticks, not just for wins and losses, but for what kind of identity this team will carry into the heart of the season. Whether it’s a rivalry clash, a cross-country road trip, or a spotlight overseas, these are the five games that could tell us everything we need to know about the 2025 Rams.<\/p>\n On paper, a home game against the Texans might not jump off the schedule like a trip to Baltimore or London, but don\u2019t let that fool you. Houston is coming off another playoff season with rising star C.J. Stroud under center, and they\u2019re quickly becoming one of the league\u2019s most exciting young teams. This matchup will give the Rams a chance to measure themselves against a fast, physical squad that made serious noise in the AFC last year. Playing them at SoFi is an advantage, but the Rams will need to be sharp, especially on defense, to keep pace with Houston\u2019s explosive offense and aggressive style. It\u2019s the kind of early-season test that could spark some early momentum.<\/p>\n Rewind to January, when the Rams and Eagles battled in the divisional round, a matchup that came down to the wire. After trailing 28-15 at Lincoln Financial Field, the Rams mounted a near comeback in the final four minutes. Los Angeles cut the deficit to six points and knocked on the door of a go-ahead touchdown until Eagles DL Jalen Carter sacked QB Matthew Stafford on a third-and-two play that caused a fourth-and-long situation, which the Rams were ultimately unable to convert and watched their season come to an end. Additionally, the two teams met in Week 12 of last season where the Eagles won in L.A., 37-20, a game in which running back\u00a0Saquon Barkley\u00a0ran for a career-high 255 yards, including touchdown runs of 70 and 72 yards in the second half. Now in 2025, the matchup between these two teams undoubtedly becomes one of the top revenge games for the Rams and a confidence boost if they can take down the defending world champions.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no easing into a road trip like this. A visit to Baltimore means stepping into one of the toughest environments in the NFL, and the Ravens don\u2019t give many breaks, especially at home. Lamar Jackson continues to be one of the league\u2019s most electric players, and Baltimore\u2019s defense always seems to play with an edge. For the Rams, this is the kind of game that can expose flaws or validate progress. It\u2019s a measuring-stick matchup in every sense, and how they handle it could say a lot about whether they\u2019re contenders or still finding their footing. The two teams last met in 2023, which resulted in a 37-31 win for the Ravens, a day in which Jackson and Stafford combined for over 600 yards and six touchdowns. Let’s not forget that Derrick Henry was not a Raven at the time.<\/p>\n While the Jaguars may not be the most intimidating opponent on the schedule, there\u2019s nothing simple about taking your entire team across the Atlantic. This marks the Rams\u2019 first trip to London since 2019, when they knocked off the Bengals 24-10. But this time, they\u2019ll be facing a Jaguars squad that\u2019s practically adopted London as a second home. It\u2019s a unique challenge, between the travel, the time zone shift, and the crowd dynamics, that will put the Rams\u2019 focus and flexibility to the test.<\/p>\n Week 15 vs. Detroit Lions<\/p>\n I am sure you all know by now that the Lions aren\u2019t the same old Lions anymore. Under Dan Campbell, Detroit has turned into a physical, playoff-tested team that can go toe-to-toe with anyone. When they come to SoFi Stadium, the Rams will have their hands full with a balanced offense led by Jared Goff and a gritty, hard-nosed defense. It\u2019s also a bit of a full-circle moment, Goff returning to face the team that drafted him again. Beyond the storylines, this game is a true test. If the Rams want to be taken seriously in the NFC, holding their own against a surging Lions squad at home is a must.<\/p>\n Follow Rams Wire on\u00a0X<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more coverage!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From NFC showdowns to a London matchup, these five games will be key in determining how far the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2079],"tags":[247,265,825,240,184,117,1456,1028,7928,324,25,7,7839,221,253,789,212,125,213,1294,476,1433,1029,1460,895,239,1014,58,2444,2611,3310,32,248,267,88,6,245,537,242,109,530,424,169,9,266,3177,1457,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-51715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-american","9":"tag-american-football","10":"tag-american-football-conference","11":"tag-angeles","12":"tag-baltimore","13":"tag-baltimore-ravens","14":"tag-c-j","15":"tag-c-j-stroud","16":"tag-carter","17":"tag-conference","18":"tag-eagles","19":"tag-football","20":"tag-goff","21":"tag-houston","22":"tag-houston-texans","23":"tag-jackson","24":"tag-jacksonville","25":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars","26":"tag-jaguars","27":"tag-jalen","28":"tag-jalen-carter","29":"tag-jared","30":"tag-jared-goff","31":"tag-lamar","32":"tag-lamar-jackson","33":"tag-los","34":"tag-los-angeles","35":"tag-los-angeles-rams","36":"tag-losangeles","37":"tag-losangelesrams","38":"tag-matthew","39":"tag-matthew-stafford","40":"tag-national","41":"tag-national-sports","42":"tag-news","43":"tag-nfl","44":"tag-overall","45":"tag-overall-positive","46":"tag-philadelphia","47":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","48":"tag-positive","49":"tag-rams","50":"tag-ravens","51":"tag-sports","52":"tag-sports-news","53":"tag-stafford","54":"tag-stroud","55":"tag-texans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}