{"id":893145,"date":"2026-05-16T21:51:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/893145\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T21:51:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:51:30","slug":"the-most-compelling-storylines-from-rams-2026-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/893145\/","title":{"rendered":"The most compelling storylines from Rams 2026 schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 slate of games was finalized this week for the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams are in the league\u2019s full spotlight with seven primetime games, but the real story is whether the schedule helps launch a contender\u2014or exposes one.<\/p>\n

What are the most compelling storylines from LA\u2019s 2026 slate? Let\u2019s preview some of the angles that will turn into headlines later in the year.<\/p>\n

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Did NFL hand Rams an early edge over 49ers<\/a>?<\/p>\n

The San Francisco 49ers upset the Rams at home on Thursday Night Football last season in part thanks to a high energy environment that favored the traveling team. These division rivals will clash on Thursday in the season opener in Melbourne, and it\u2019s difficult to put aside the idea that LA asked for this international matchup in order to prevent San Francisco from turning SoFi Stadium into Levi\u2019s South<\/a>.<\/p>\n

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said at the NFL league meetings that he\u2019d like to see his team schedule a Monday night game in order for the league to make them whole after an opening week of burdensome travel. Instead, the NFL gave Shanahan the middle finger and asked the Rams to host the New York Giants<\/a> on Monday Night Football in Week 2. San Francisco plays a day earlier and hosts the Miami Dolphins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We cannot ignore that the league did the Rams a favor to start the season. Will we look back and say it made a difference in the trajectory of these two rivals?<\/p>\n

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Rams face their former quarterback as a key coach\"\"<\/p>\n

LA travels to Philadelphia<\/a> in Week 4. The Eagles have a familiar face at offensive coordinator in former Rams quarterback<\/a> Sean Mannion. Mannion was drafted by Les Snead in the Jeff Fisher era and stuck during Sean McVay\u2019s tenure as the multi-year backup to Jared Goff<\/a>. While we did not see Mannion on the field during the regular season, his connection to McVay is undoubtedly a big reason why he now holds a key role in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Offenses usually aren\u2019t firing on all cylinders four weeks into the season. This could be an uphill battle for Mannion and the Eagles, although it will still be an interesting clash of former teammates.<\/p>\n

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Chiefs<\/a> get first shot at old secondary\"\"<\/p>\n

The blockbuster move of the NFL offseason was the Rams trading a first round pick and change for Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie<\/a>. LA then doubled down in free agency and signed his running mate Jaylen Watson<\/a> away from Kansas City<\/a>. There may be no bigger position group overhaul in the entire league than the turnaround the Rams have administered at corner. This change could signal a schematic change on defense and should help a formidable pass rush get home more often.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s never easy facing Patrick Mahomes<\/a> and Andy Reid. This is still a tough matchup for the Rams even if their defense has taken a step forward on paper over the offseason.<\/p>\n

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The NFC West runs through Seattle<\/p>\n

The Seahawks are the reigning NFC West and Super Bowl champs until they aren\u2019t. The three matchups between these rivals a year ago were always closely fought and ultimately defined the season.<\/p>\n

With two clashes in the final three weeks of the regular season, deciding the outcome of the division race could come down to the finale\u2014and it\u2019s possible we again see LA and Seattle face off in the postseason.<\/p>\n

Will the Rams be able to change the outcome in 2026 and dethrone the Seahawks?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 slate of games was finalized this week for the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams are in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":893146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[220,25100,4084,346,7,1029,4814,118,1014,58,2444,2611,251,56,6,297,499,242,424,34574,1161,11052,261,4223],"class_list":["post-893145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-rams","tag-49ers","tag-49ers-head-coach","tag-blake-corum","tag-chiefs","tag-football","tag-jared-goff","tag-jaylen-watson","tag-kansas-city","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesrams","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-new-york-giants","tag-nfl","tag-nick-emmanwori","tag-patrick-mahomes","tag-philadelphia","tag-rams","tag-rams-quarterback","tag-san-francisco","tag-sean-mannion","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-trent-mcduffie"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116586472220841250","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893145","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=893145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}