Turf Show Times
LA is the only team in the NFL with the opportunity to defeat the “bird gauntlet” in 2025
The Los Angeles Rams will have the opportunity this year to make history by beating all five of the NFL bird teams in a single season. That would mean defeating the Philadelphia Eagles and the Baltimore Ravens in the first six weeks of the season, having two shots at the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks before facing the Atlanta Falcons in Week 17. Unlike the New Orleans Saints, who were the last team to have a chance at the gauntlet in 2023, the Rams have an advantage with two of their division rivals being a bird team.
The Rams’ chances at making history may end early against one of their hardest opponents of the 2025 season, but at least it won’t be snowing. LA was embarrassed the first time the two teams met last year with Saquon Barkley looking nearly unstoppable with 250+ yards rushing and two touchdowns. They faired better in the playoffs and came close to advancing to the NFC Championship game but still allowed Barkley to tear their defense apart. The Eagles and Rams will be an intriguing early season matchup with a chance for each other to measure where they are as a team.
The fact that the NFL did not decide to make Week 6’s matchup against the Ravens a primetime feature is maybe even more criminal than passing up an opportunity to showcase a Eagles rematch in Week 3, but I digress. Sean McVay’s squad has not played well against the Ravens and is 1-2 in his tenure. The one win is asterisk with Tyler Huntley as quarterback and even then it took a Matthew Stafford fourth-quarter comeback to take the win. The Rams were embarrassed in a 45-6 loss in 2019 with Jared Goff still under center. In 2023 they lost in a heartbreaking fashion when Tylan Wallace took a punt 76 yards to the endzone to win in OT. This will be a hard matchup but their recent upgrades on the defensive line could keep Lamar Jackson contained enough to give them a chance.
Who knows what Sam Darnold will be with the Seahawks, but he will have a very determined receiver to throw to that has every reason to be upset with his former team. Cooper Kupp was never the same for the Rams after injuring his ankle following his historical performance in 2021, but even then he showed flashes of his former self when the team needed him the most. Seattle could be a dark horse contender in 2025 even after trading away DK Metcalf and Geno Smith this offseason. Week 11 could be enough time for Darnold to forget about the Rams D-line sacking him nine times in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, or he could still be seeing ghosts. I...
