On the road again, and the Rams don't mind

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den-the-coach

Fifty-four Forty or Fight
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Dennis
On the road again, and the Rams don't mind

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"I don't even think we should play at home," joked Rams running back Todd Gurley, whose team is 3-0 on the road this season. Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports
  • Alden GonzalezESPN Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The road, in many ways, is their home.

The Rams play out of Los Angeles, but they have performed their best away from it. The sample size is still quite small, but the Rams have won only two games in L.A. since they moved there at the start of the 2016 season, both of which represented their home openers. This year, they're 3-0 on the road for the first time since 2001 -- the year they went to the Super Bowl -- and 1-2 at home.

"I don't even think we should play at home," Rams running back Todd Gurley said, jokingly (one would think). "We've gotten all the wins on the road. That's been a good thing for us."

It's good timing, too.

The Rams beat the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field 27-17on Sunday and are staying in the city through Thursday. From there, they will go to London to serve as the home team against the division-rival Arizona Cardinals. Then they'll have their bye week, and then they'll travel to face the New York Giants. That's three games covering something in the neighborhood of 17,000 airline miles. Their next true home game, Week 10 against the Houston Texans, will come 35 days after their last one.

Because they now play out of the West Coast, and because they've drawn the London game, the Rams are set to travel more miles than any other team from the start of the 2016 season to the end of the 2017 season.

This week, their home is a sprawling, luxurious golf-course resort along Jacksonville's coastline. Rams coach Sean McVay is looking forward to the whole experience. He recently spoke to Atlanta Falcons coach Dan Quinn, whose team played in Denver and in Seattle for back-to-back games and wound up spending an entire week on the West Coast.

"It offers a unique opportunity to continue to connect as a team," McVay said. "Being away, but still you’re almost creating another camp in-season, if you will, and it feels comfortable."


The Rams are trying to mimic their typical weekly schedule and adjust it to E.T. They had meetings on Monday, will be off on Tuesday, then practice on the campus of the University of North Florida on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. They'll then hold a late, light practice at 4 p.m. local time from London on Friday.

The Rams are 4-2 for the first time 2006, already matching their win total from all of last season.

There have been times, as recently as their Week 5 game against the Seattle Seahawks, when their offense has had to use a silent count at home because so many of the fans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum were rooting for the opposing team.

Maybe they acquired that road mentality early.

Maybe they have already come together.

“We’re playing as a team and finishing games," Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald said. "We've had a lot of adversity in our games, but we're still finding a way to play for four quarters and finishing.”

[www.espn.com]
 

-X-

Medium-sized Lebowski
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Jun 20, 2010
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The Dude
There have been times, as recently as their Week 5 game against the Seattle Seahawks, when their offense has had to use a silent count at home because so many of the fans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum were rooting for the opposing team.
That's mildly fucked up.
 

SteezyEndo

The Immaculate Exception
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Sep 16, 2012
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I feel like if this team doesn't get a fan base by the new opening of the stadium, they will just be the Barnum & Bailey of the NFL, and just be the traveling NFL team bringing it to a city near you...