Mike Sando --
Breakdown: Jeff Fisher's addition as head coach raised the Rams' profile, but not enough for the team to secure a Monday night game. A Thursday night home game against the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 4 will have to suffice in the prime-time department. That's what happens when a team goes 15-65 over a five-year period.
The Rams open at Detroit, a rough test for them on just about every front, but they return home to face the Washington Redskins -- and, probably, rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III -- in Week 2. Drawing Griffin early in the season, before he's had much seasoning, seems like a welcome development. But with two of the first three games on the road -- a trip to Chicago awaits in Week 3 -- the Rams do faces challenges early.
The NFL gave the Rams a home game against Green Bay on Oct. 21 before the team heads to London. The bye week naturally falls one week later, but then it's off to San Francisco for a tough test against the 49ers' defense on Nov. 11.
Complaint department: The Rams play three of their final four games on the road on opposite coasts, including a Dec. 9 trip to Buffalo and road games against Tampa Bay and Seattle in the final two weeks of the regular season. A Dec. 16 home game against Minnesota interrupts the road trip, but this will be a tough closing stretch for the Rams. They play only three games in the Edward Jones Dome over the final 10 weeks of the season, counting their Week 9 bye. That's the price of playing in London and getting a four-week stretch with three home games beginning in Week 2.
Heading overseas: Agreeing to play a game in London diminishes a favorable stretch of the schedule. The Rams have four home games during a five-game stretch beginning with a Week 4 game against Seattle, but the final game of that stretch falls against New England across the Atlantic. Being the "home" team against the Patriots in London renders no advantage.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/ ... analysis-2
