Now that the Rams' 2026 schedule has been officially announced, senior staff writer Stu Jackson ranks the top five games for Los Angeles this upcoming season.
The Giants got the most prominent name available in this year's head coach hiring cycle in John Harbaugh, whom the Ravens parted ways with on January 6 after 18 seasons. Between his arrival, the first full season of the offense being led by quarterback and 2025 offensive rookie of the year finalist Jaxson Dart, New York makes for one of the NFL's most compelling and interesting teams entering the 2026 season.
Although the Giants traded one of the league's best defensive tackles in Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals, they still boast one of the league's top edge groups between Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter.
When these two teams previously met in primetime in Los Angeles, it produced one of the most explosive and high-scoring games in NFL history. While the personnel on each roster has turned over quite a bit since – not to mention, the teams also faced each other in Kansas City back in 2022 – a stage featuring two of the league's most creative play-calling head coaches in Andy Reid and Sean McVay is always a must-watch, especially with elite quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Matthew Stafford squaring off, both of which have become synonymous with no-look passes.
Green Bay carries over continuity offensively between play-caller (head coach Matt LaFleur signed a contract extension in January) and personnel (quarterback Jordan Love, running back Josh Jacobs, and wide receivers Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Matthew Golden). Receiver presents the most intrigue, between retaining Reed, Watson's potential, and the possibility a bigger role for Golden following the departures of Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks this offseason.
Defensively, that unit will be led by All-Pro edge Micah Parsons, who is coming off a season-ending torn ACL sustained in Week 15 last year, and a new coordinator in former Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon. The Packers' special teams also has new leadership, with Cam Achord taking over for Rich Bisaccia, who stepped down in mid-February and went to Clemson to become its special teams coordinator.
The Rams last faced the Bills during the 2024 season, in which Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen won NFL MVP. Thus, this game will feature each of he league's last two MVPs in primetime after Stafford took home the first of his career last year.
Did I mention both teams combine for 86 points and 902 total yards of offense in a 44-42 Rams win in that December 8 matchup at SoFi Stadium?
The Bills also begin their first season under new leadership after parting ways with longtime head coach Sean McDermott, who held the role since 2017, and replacing him by promoting offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
1) Week 16 at Seahawks, Dec. 25 (5:15 p.m. PT, FOX)
This game in some ways is reminiscent of last year's Week 3 road game against the Eagles. Similar to Philadelphia's 2024 Super Bowl LIX-winning playoff run, Los Angeles arguably gave Seattle its most competitive game on its path to winning Super Bowl LX in last year's playoffs. This game also likely was a factor in the way the Rams approached free agency this year.
These divisional rivals won't meet until late December, but history tells us playoff and division implications will be at stake when they meet.
