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The Los Angeles Rams have just two games remaining in the regular season that likely lead them to their first NFC West crown since 2003. Along with that would come some certainty for the 2018 regular season schedule.
Here’s the current layout for the Rams’ 2018 slate:
LA Rams 2018 Regular Season Opponents
| Home | Away |
|---|---|
| Home | Away |
| Philadelphia Eagles | New Orleans Saints |
| Green Bay Packers | Chicago Bears |
| Kansas City Chiefs | Denver Broncos |
| Los Angeles Chargers | Detroit Lions |
| Minnesota Vikings | Oakland Raiders |
| Arizona Cardinals | Arizona Cardinals |
| Seattle Seahawks | Seattle Seahawks |
| San Francisco 49ers | San Francisco 49ers |
You’ve got, essentially, three groups locked in and one group left outstanding.
NFC West
As always, the Rams will split home and away games with their divisional opponents: the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks.
One random note: I mentioned the Rams’ last NFC West crown was in 2003. It’s worth remembering this incarnation of the NFC West has only existed since 2002. The previous NFC West, from 1995-2001, was made up of the St. Louis Rams, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, 49ers and Carolina Panthers...a completely different side. And from 1977-94, the West was made up of the LA Rams, Falcons, Saints and Niners.
So this division had one makeup for 18 years, another for seven years and the current makeup for the last 16 years. It might be worth wondering how long this NFC West remains the same...
NFC North & AFC West
Next year’s divisional lineup makes for some interesting matchups. We get Aaron Rodgers coming to the Coliseum along with whoever is quarterbacking the Minnesota Vikings. And #FightForLA in the regular season? That’s gonna be fun.
The road contests look really bland, which obviously works in the Rams’ favor, but things can change really quickly (see: the 2017 LA Rams). So road trips against the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders might look much more difficult come October 2018 than they do right now.
Same-seed NFC East & NFC South opponents
The Rams will face the NFC East and NFC South opponent in the same place in their divisional standings as the Rams are in the NFC West. So should we wrap up the NFC West crown, we’ll take on the Philadelphia Eagles at home and whichever team wins the NFC South at their place.
Looking to 2019, those groups change over. The NFC North & AFC West from the 2018 schedule turn into the NFC South and AFC North in 2019 while the same-seed opponents will come from the NFC North and NFC East.
All that’s left for 2018 is to wrap up the NFC West for the Rams and see who wins the NFC South and we’ll have our opponents for 2018.