Rams Set To Open the Season With September Gauntlet

The Los Angeles Rams schedule to open the 2023 season isn't a friendly one.

While teams tend not to put a ton of stock into preseason results, it can't be a great feeling for the Los Angeles Rams to head into the regular season having lost 41-0 to the Denver Broncos in their final exhibition. 

And it's not as though they'll get to ease into the 2023 regular season campaign. The three matchups the Rams have in September will all come against teams who reached the postseason a year ago and appear to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders this year. 

Coach Sean McVay's squad will travel to Lumen Field in Seattle in Week 1, which is seen by most as one of the most difficult stadiums to play in across the sport. Quarterback Geno Smith and the Seahawks snuck up on teams a year ago, going 9-8 and reaching the postseason. 

But second-year running back Kenneth Walker flashed star potential in his rookie season, and the Seahawks will add first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a receiver corps that already included D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Oh, and future Hall of Fame linebacker Bobby Wagner is back in Seattle after spending last season with the Rams. 

But while the Seahawks have emerged as a trendy pick to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LVIII, they aren't even the favorites in their own division. That would be the San Francisco 49ers, who the Rams will host in Week 2 at SoFi Stadium. 

The 49ers will have Brock Purdy back at quarterback after his first-quarter injury in the NFC Championship Game brought an unceremonious end to their playoff run last year. Any team coached by Kyle Shanahan is going to be a postseason threat. 

And if that wasn't enough, the Rams will travel to Cincinnati in Week 3 for a Monday Night Football contest against a Bengals team that has played in back-to-back AFC Championship Games. 

As he deals with a right calf strain, it's not yet clear if Burrow will be ready for Week 1. But by Week 3, one would think one of the game's elite quarterbacks will be back in the lineup, and the Rams will be heavy underdogs. 

In theory, things should get a bit easier for the Rams in Week 4 on Oct. 1 when they face the Indianapolis Colts. Then again, that's a road game, and given rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson's athleticism, the Colts are kind of a wild card in 2023. 

And if the Rams aren't able to get into the win column in the first four weeks of the season, Week 5 will likely be as difficult of a matchup as they have, with the defending NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles coming to town. 

The preseason finished in an ugly fashion for the Rams, and it's entirely possible -- if not likely -- that the regular season could be brutal as well. 

You can follow Tim Kelly @TimKellySports on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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