LA Rams: 5 games that mean more to Rams than a win or loss

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(Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images) /

Hosting the Lions

Just as the Rams must prove to themselves and the NFL that they are a worthy successor to represent the NFC by facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and claiming an early advantage in the NFL Playoffs race, they face a different but incredibly important task at home versus Detroit Lions On October 24, 2021.

The LA Rams may not believe that the Detroit Lions pose much of a threat, which is why this game could prove to be exactly that. This is a grudge match for secondary coach Aubrey Pleasant, for GM Brad Holmes, for assistant GM Ray Agnew, for defensive lineman Michael Brockers, and perhaps most of all, for quarterback Jared Goff. While the schedule will disclose this game with no special designation or weight, this one is as much a family feud as a football game.

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All five named Lions staff member or player was associated with the LA Rams in 2020. That’s a pretty significant number of persons to translate en masse to the same location in one offseason. No doubt all have a large number of friends in the LA Rams staff offices or locker room, and that is what makes this game so very dangerous to the Rams hopes of winning the Super Bowl this year. Can the LA Rams fire up enough to ruthlessly demolish the Lions on the football field, while remaining such good friends off the field that they could comfortably invite them to the dinner table to celebrate Thanksgiving Dinner?

Ah. There’s the rub. The LA Rams could view the 2021 Detroit Lions from the same lens that they held up to the New York Jets in 2020. A team that may struggle at times and that creates fear nowhere, but a team with enough incentive to pull together a flawless game to pull off an upset that the Rams never saw coming. With a new front office and coaching staff, the organization will be looking for a benchmark game to ensure buy-in from all of the players. This is a game that the Rams could overlook. But you can bet that the Lions won’t. That is what makes this game so important for the Rams.

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