Turf Show Times
The Los Angeles Rams have several important games on the 2026 schedule, several of them involving NFC West foes. Fans know that matchups against the Seahawks and 49ers will be a blast, but there are plenty of exciting games outside of the division as well.
Here is a full ranking of the Rams’ non-divisional games on the upcoming schedule from #11-1:
Last season, the Rams crushed the short-handed Buccaneers 34-7 on Sunday Night Football. Tampa Bay is nothing more than a mediocre NFC squad that won’t have the luxury of playing in the league’s weakest division any longer.
Both the Saints and the reigning NFC South champion Panthers figure to improve after promising finishes to the 2025 campaign. Even the Falcons could make some noise and cause a few headaches along the way. The Bucs might again be in playoff contention by the time they play L.A. in 2026, but there’s very little intriguing about them outside of Baker Mayfield’s flashes and wondering why the hell Todd Bowles still has a job.
The only thing I have to say about this one is snore!
This matchup should be higher. After all, this is John Harbaugh’s first season taking over the G-Men since the Ravens canned him.
However, given that this game is so early in the year, New York will likely not be in tip-top form as they adjust to Harbaugh’s leadership. If this game were played after Week 10, this one would rank much higher on the list.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Giants have the worst odds to win the NFC East at +550. That’s fair, as they’re coming off two straight last place finishes. Harbaugh will eventually right the ship, but making this a Monday Night Football matchup so early in the year should qualify as cruel and unusual punishment for the young G-Men against an experienced Rams squad.
Similar to the Giants game, this one should be higher.
Assuming Jayden Daniels can stay healthy and return to form, Washington will be improved, even if they don’t reach the NFC Championship high from a couple seasons ago. Daniels is one of the most exciting players in the sport, and appears to have a stronger roster around him to help Washington return to relevance.
But the ranking of this game is dependent on whether Daniels stays healthy and doesn’t experience the Robert Griffin III curse.
Part of me wanted to put this one in the top five, but I backed down at the last second.
The reason I was so willing to do so was dependent on whether Fernando Mendoza would be playing at this point in the season. First-year head coach Klint Kubiak seems willing to be smart and take his time with Mendoza, which is smart and very against type for the Raiders. Las Vegas has plenty of other fun players to...
