No entity or organization in our society can make something mundane feel like a massive deal quite like the NFL can. In related news, the full 2026 schedule will be revealed on Thursday.
We already have a few hints about what the slate will look like for the Los Angeles Rams this year. Notably, we already know they’ll open the season on Thursday, Sept. 10 against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia in a game exclusively on Netflix.
We’ll soon find out when each game will be played and on which
network they’ll be shown in 2026. That got me to thinking as I contemplated what this season’s slate could look like: What time of day has been the friendliest to the Rams in the Sean McVay era? And which windows have they struggled in?
Obviously, this is the kind of hard-hitting journalism our country needs, and it’s the kind of hard and fast facts that will guarantee success or failure this coming season. Or it could just be series of coincidences that mean nothing other than satiating our desperate craving for all things football in the middle of spring. Probably the latter.
On a serious note, this might not be entirely worthless. After all, weeknight games mean different amounts of prep time than normal, higher-profile and more challenging opponents are usually on the docket in primetime, etc. If there’s an edge to be had, NFL teams will do anything they can to find it.
After digging into the data since McVay took the reins in 2017, here’s how the Rams have fared across all kickoff times in the last nine seasons (based on the Pacific time zone):
*This 2021 game against the Seattle Seahawks was originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon but was postponed due to Covid-19.
Some notable/interesting/fun trends:
- The Sunday afternoon window was extremely prosperous last season, with the Rams winning all eight games that kicked off at either 1:05 or 1:25 p.m. They also went 9-1 with those kickoff times in 2018.
- The Thursday Night Football success was even more pronounced before 2025, with the Rams going 8-2 in McVay’s first 10 Thursday tilts.
- After starting 4-1 on Monday Night Football in the McVay era, Los Angeles has now lost six of its last seven regular-season games on ESPN.
During the McVay era, the Rams have generally played 3-5 10 a.m. games a season, although they played just one each in the 2018 and 2022 campaigns. With just three road opponents in the Eastern time zone this year, all of whom could legitimately be good primetime matchups, don’t expect a ton of early kickoffs.
And, as Evan Craig correctly posited recently, you should expect plenty of Rams games in primetime one way another this season.
So, what should we do with this information? If you’re the type to root for certain outcomes with minutiae like this, more daytime Sunday games have historically been beneficial, and if the primetime slate includes multiple Thursday games it probably wouldn’t hurt.
Or, if you’re like most of the world, just enjoy the social media videos that come out with the announcements.
