WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — For the first time since New Year's Day in 2023, both teams that call SoFi Stadium "home" will be facing off against each other in the regular season. The Rams and the Chargers meet on Sunday with the Chargers fresh off their bye week and the Rams fresh off a win over the Raiders in Las Vegas.
Head coach Sean McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford talk from the podium about facing a winless Chargers team that the Rams don't plan on overlooking.
"I really couldn't care less what the record says. I see a team that's really good. They've had a chance to win a lot of these games. This league is so open in terms of, week-in and week-out, every single team, you're thinking you know something, but this is a really good football team, well coached, good personnel, and so we got our hands full." - McVay
McVay has continuously repeated all season long that "humility is only a day away." Despite being the only team left in the NFL without a win, the Chargers are "excellent on defense. They're really well coached. I know how good of a coach (offensive coordinator) Mike McDaniel (is) and how good they are offensively with their personnel," according to McVay.
Even though the Chargers are coming off their bye week, McVay isn't getting too caught up in how the Chargers might change things up because "there still is a lot of challenging and stressful things that they've done on tape that we have to be ready to go for." McVay said the more important thing is being able to "adjust and adapt within the framework" during the game and "maybe you project of some things that they would maybe do, ... but you want to be careful not to overthink it."
"I think they've been playing really good defense this year. Obviously, haven't gotten probably some of the results that they've wanted, but really well-coached group, attacking a bunch of different ways, mixed their personnels really well. So they do a nice job." - Stafford
Stafford specifically called attention to outside linebacker Khalil Mack, the Chargers leader in sacks this season with three, as someone he's looking out for. Stafford mentioned how "he still looks like he's running around making plays" after the two faced off twice a year when Stafford was in Detroit and Mack was in Chicago.
For Stafford and the rest of the Rams' locker room, the mentality of facing a winless opponent is to "attack it as you do any other week. We don't really look at the other team's record and go, 'oh, they're good or they're bad.' It's 'hey, this is NFL football.' They've got Pro Bowl caliber players on that side of the sideline."
