5 best-case schedule scenarios for the LA Rams in the 2024 season

IV: Face opponents before their BYE weeks

The NFL typically runs eight weeks for all 32 teams (4 per BYE week) to schedule their BYEs. So how is it that the Rams faced four opponents after their BYEs in 2023? That is nearly a mathematical impossibility if left to chance. Curiously, both the Rams and the 49ers had that bad luck.

Don't get me wrong. Facing an opponent off their BYE does not ensure that they will win the game. But with an extra week for players to rest and coaches to scheme and devise counter measures, it's certainly not something that the Rams would prefer. Rather, it's much more preferrable to face teams before their BYE weeks.

While even battered and bruised players can rally for one game, catching teams before they take that mid-season mini vacation ensures that they are at a lull. The week before a BYE will have the most players stiff and sore, and will have the coaching staff pitted at their most frantic pace. Some can succeed in those conditions, others simply do not.

The Rams face some very good teams in 2024. The Rams must run the gauntlet of the NFC North, a division that has retooled with two new quarterbacks to compete against two playoff teams. The team must also face the AFC East, another division with two teams who hope to rally behind this year's quarterbacks who hope to compete against two playoff teams.

2024 opponents do not need the advantage of a BYE week.