The Los Angeles Rams will be on the road this week when they face the Denver Broncos on Sunday night, their third consecutive prime-time game – and third straight game in a different city.
Like the Rams, the Broncos got back on track last week after looking terrible in Week 1, so both teams are trending in the right direction. Here are five stats and facts to know for Sunday's game at Mile High.
Rams are 8-1 in road openers under Sean McVay
The Rams have only played one game at SoFi Stadium so far this season, but Sunday will be their first true road game; Week 1 in Australia was technically a home game. Good news: Los Angeles has been excellent in road openers under McVay.
According to Rams PR, the Rams are 8-1 in their first road game of the season since 2017. Their only loss came to the Lions
in 2024, an overtime defeat in Detroit.
Rams haven’t lost to Broncos since 2002
Being in different conferences, the Rams and Broncos don’t meet often. Their last matchup was in 2022, squaring off only five times in the last 20 years.
The Rams have won all five of those games dating back to 2006, including that 51-14 win on Christmas Day in 2022. The last time the Rams lost to the Broncos was in 2002, a 23-16 road loss in the season opener.
Matthew Stafford has faced Broncos less than every other team in NFL
This will only be the third time Stafford has faced the Broncos. His two career games against Denver are his fewest against any team in the NFL – yes, even fewer than the Lions, who he’s faced three times.
Both of Stafford’s games against the Broncos were while he was with the Lions, splitting them, 1-1. He’s completed 69.3% of his passes for 549 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions against the Broncos in his career, which includes a 45-10 win in 2011 when he had three scores and no picks.
Broncos are terrible on third down
Offense, defense, doesn’t matter. The Broncos have been abysmal on third down this season. Offensively, they’re converting just 26.1% of the time, which ranks 29th in the NFL. On defense, opponents have gone 14-for-29 on third, the seventh-worst conversion rate allowed.
If the Rams can convert on third down and put the Broncos in third-and-long, they’ll win the possession battle – and potentially the game.
Sean McVay is 3-1 vs. Sean Payton
McVay and Payton have crossed paths four times in the past as head coaches, with Sunday’s game set to be the fifth. McVay has gone 3-1 against Payton in his career, all while Payton was with the Saints from 2017-2021.
That record, of course, includes the Rams’ 26-23 win in the 2018 NFC title game when Nickell Robey-Coleman infamously was not called for pass interference in the fourth quarter.
McVay’s only loss to Payton was in 2018 when the Saints won a shootout, 45-35, in Week 9.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: 5 stats and facts to know for Rams vs. Broncos: LA owns road openers
