The Los Angeles Rams are three weeks away from playing the San Francisco 49ers in Australia. Between the excitement of the upcoming season and the league’s recent desire to have an NFL team outside the US, let’s look at how the Rams have fared overseas.
Since the start of the NFL International Series, the Rams have gone 3-2. Their five games are tied with the Patriots and Raiders for the most in the league, behind the Jaguars (14), Dolphins (7) and Vikings (6). The team’s season opener will be their
first played outside London. Their 2018 thriller against the Chiefs was originally supposed to be played in Mexico City, but was moved to the LA Coliseum because of poor field conditions at Estadio Azteca.
Los Angeles is also currently on a three-game overseas winning streak, all have which have occurred in the Sean McVay era.
Patriots 45, Rams 7 (2012)
Sam Bradford and company didn’t stand a chance.
In their only international game while based in St. Louis, the Rams actually scored first in this one. However, it was all Tom Brady and the Patriots from there. New England scored on its first five possessions and ran up a 28-7 lead at halftime.
Brady threw four touchdown passes, including two to Rob Gronkowski, who finished with 146 yards on eight receptions. Okay, moving on, nothing else to see here!
Giants 17, Rams 10 (2016)
This one was at least competitive, but still managed to be quite ugly.
LA starter Case Keenum threw four interceptions, with two of them going to Giants safety Landon Collins. In this one, Collins’ had his iconic 44-yard pick-six — you know the one — which led to New York tying the game about halfway through the second quarter.
The Giants were offensively challenged throughout game, as they were outgained by 113 yards. Turnovers simply made the difference. Keenum was also mercifully benched for a rookie Jared Goff a few weeks later.
Rams 33, Cardinals 0 (2017)
Finally a win! The Rams notched their first overseas victory in a dominant win over the rival Cardinals.
Arizona was outgained 425-196 and amassed only 10 first downs compared to LA’s 28. Los Angeles held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, as the Cards with an aging Adrian Peterson in the backfield rushed for 25(!) yards. Zoo-wee mama!
That win helped propel the Rams to a surprise NFC West title in McVay’s first season.
Rams 24, Bengals 10 (2019)
Call this the OG Cooper Kupp game.
Against the winless Bengals, Kupp torched Cincinnati to the tune of 220 receiving yards on seven receptions. Best of all, he did it in just over a half, with 165 of those yards coming before halftime. The highlight of the matchup was a 65-yard touchdown pass on a double reverse flea-flicker that put the Rams ahead for good in the second quarter.
Cincy finished a league-worst 2-14, but managed to select Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow with the top overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Burrow, as we know, helped lead the Bengals back to the Super Bowl in his second season as starter, where they’d lose to Kupp and the Rams.
Rams 35, Jaguars 7 (2025)
It’s amazing to think this was the Rams’ first international game in six years, and the lone one for Stafford in an LA uniform to date entering this season.
Stafford certainly made the most of it by having five touchdown passes, despite throwing for under 200 yards. Three of those touchdown passes went to Davante Adams, who would finish atop the NFL leaderboard with receiving touchdowns at seasons end.
Additionally, Stafford’s five touchdown passes were the most thrown in an international game. While he didn’t get knighted following his performance, he did eventually earn All-Pro and MVP honors. Hopefully, he can have an encore down under, and put the Whiners on the barbie while he’s at it.
