Brutal scheduling gauntlet forcing Rams fans to ask when enough is enough

Los Angeles Rams fans are used to it. Every year, their team gets dealt one of the NFL's toughest schedules, not least because the slate includes six NFC West division games. The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers are perennial playoff contenders and/or Super Bowl threats. 

Another drawback from playing on the West Coast: lots and lots of travel. The 2026 Rams schedule will be no different. According to reported team-by-team mileage projections, Los Angeles will log the second-most miles in the league. No. 1? San Francisco, the Horns' Week 1 opponent in Australia. 

Yes, Rams fans are used to it: the strength of the competition, the miles flown. Eventually, all that frustration reaches a breaking point. Will it ever be easier?

Rams once again near league lead in estimated travel miles

Probably not, at least for the foreseeable future. The Seahawks have been competent since Pete Carroll. The 49ers have been to four of the last seven Conference title games. LA should expect tough division games every year.

And as long as the Rams themselves remain among the favorites to win it all, they can count on being featured in prime-time clashes with marquee teams from around the league.

Here's an update along those lines: the Horns will host the Packers this Thanksgiving Eve. By the odds, Green Bay is No. 3 in the NFC to make the Super Bowl, behind Seattle and Los Angeles. And, oh, that Week 1 Netflix subscription will come in handy again.

Of course, being tagged to play in prime time isn't all bad. Other teams complain about not getting enough exposure on National TV. The Rams don't have that problem. 

The travel, though, is grueling. The 34,847 miles they will travel this season is nearly 10,000 miles more than the circumference of the equator. It is 6,377 miles more than the travel requirements for the next closest team, the Texans. 

What about LA's other NFL representative, the Chargers? They will travel the seventh-most miles, but only 24,816 in total. Well that's interesting. Seattle clocks in at No. 10, with 22,056 total projected miles traveled. 

The Seahawks are sequestered in the northwestern-most corner of the country and just won the Super Bowl. That's not great evidence for the argument that a brutal schedule simply comes with the territory as a winning team in the NFL. 

At the end of the day, of course, no one else cares. So the Rams have a hard schedule - again. Boo-hoo. Non-49ers fans won't care that San Francisco's perennially injured and increasingly geriatric roster can't catch a break. 

It's a no-excuses league. Lemon of a schedule? Make Blue and Yellow lemonade. 

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