St. Louis Rams 2015 Schedule: The "Rough Patches" and the "Sweet Spot"

The NFL released the full schedule for the 2015 season on Tuesday night, so now is as good a time as any to start planning your Sunday’s for this fall.  You can view the St. Louis Rams’ schedule here.

If you’ll remember, last year the Rams faced what many dubbed "The Octet of Pain."  It was an eight game stretch where they faced their most difficult opponents:  at Eages, vs. 49ers, vs. Seahawks, at Chiefs, at 49ers, at Cardinals, vs. Broncos, and at Chargers.  Winning those games, especially without starting quarterback Sam Bradford, looked to be a tall task.

They lost five of the eight games, but won the others in relatively surprising fashion; defeating the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks, winning on the road in San Francisco, and shocking everyone except Mike Ditka by beating the Denver Broncos 22-7.

But now we turn our attention to the 2015 season.  And while there isn’t necessarily an Octet of Pain on the schedule, there’s at least one rough patch, where pulling off wins might prove difficult...and a sweet spot, where stringing together 3, maybe 4, wins might be foreseeable.  Let’s have a look...

Rough Patches:  Weeks 2 - 5, & Weeks 11-14

There are two potential rough patches in the Rams’ schedule in 2015.  The early slate starts off with the Redskins [4-12], whom the Rams should beat. After that, though, wins won’t come so easily.  The Rams will host the AFC North Champion Pittsburgh Steelers [11-5], then head west to take on the Arizona Cardinals [11-5] and Green Bay Packers [12-4] in back-to-back road tests.

The Rams will face a few unfamiliar opponents in the latter portion of the season, as well.  Following a pretty soft quarter of the season following the bye [see below], they’ll take on four straight 2014 playoff teams:  at Baltimore Ravens [10-6], at Cincinnati Bengals [10-5-1], vs. Arizona Cardinals [11-5], and vs. Detroit Lions [11-5].

Sweet Spot:  Weeks 7 - 10