The Los Angeles Rams kick off their 2026 NFL season against divisional rival San Francisco 49ers on Thursday, Sept. 10. They enter Week 1 in a new environment - Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia - but the Rams are hoping to finish the year with a familiar sight: confetti falling on their heads as they hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy over 8,000 miles away at SoFi Stadium in February.
Exactly how they ended 2022.
It's been a long road for the Rams to just be in position to run it back, but general manager Les Snead led a speedrun of a roster re-tool. LA looked Super Bowl-ready a year ago until their biggest weakness - the secondary - ended up being their undoing, as the season ended in an NFC Championship shootout against the Seattle
Seahawks where Sam Darnold burned them for 346 yards and three touchdowns.
That was addressed early in the offseason when the Rams made a blockbuster trade to acquire cornerback Trent McDuffie from the Kansas City Chiefs and promptly signed him to a four-year, $124 million contract extension. A week later, they signed his former teammate, Jaylen Watson.
That's not the only part of the defense Snead shored up.
Myles Garrett, the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2025 after he shattered the record for most sacks in a single season, arrived in LA on June 1 via a trade that sent promising young edge rusher Jared Verse and three draft picks to the Cleveland Browns. Then, Aaron Donald announced his return after two years of retirement, putting an already formidable roster over the top on paper.
That paper reads glowingly for the Rams, who open the season as favorites to win the Super Bowl at +500 odds according to BetMGM, leading the field by a wide margin with the Buffalo Bills coming in with the second-highest odds (+1000).
NFL Super Bowl odds
Here are the likeliest teams to win Super Bowl LXI, according to BetMGM.
- Los Angeles Rams +500
- Buffalo Bills +1000
- Baltimore Ravens +1100
- Seattle Seahawks +1300
- Kansas City Chiefs +1500
- Los Angeles Chargers +1700
- San Francisco 49ers +1700
- Denver Broncos +1800
- Detroit Lions +1800
- Philadelphia Eagles +1800
- Cincinnati Bengals +2000
- Green Bay Packers +2000
- Houston Texans +2000
- New England Patriots +2000
- Chicago Bears +2500
- Dallas Cowboys +2500
- Jacksonville Jaguars +3000
- Minnesota Vikings +5000
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers +5000
- Indianapolis Colts +6600
- New York Giants +6600
- Washington Commanders +6600
- New Orleans Saints +8000
- Pittsburgh Steelers +8000
- Atlanta Falcons +10000
- Carolina Panthers +10000
- Cleveland Browns +25000
- Las Vegas Raiders +25000
- New York Jets +25000
- Tennessee Titans +25000
- Arizona Cardinals +50000
- Miami Dolphins +50000
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rams kick off Week 1 with best odds to win Super Bowl
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