Only 1 of the Rams' 4 remaining nationally televised games could be flexed

[theramswire.usatoday.com] Only 1 of the Rams' 4 remaining nationally televised games could be flexed

Cameron DaSilva
December 1, 2022 5:41 am PT
The Rams are going to be on everyone’s TVs a lot in the next five weeks, for better or worse. After they play the Seahawks on Sunday, the Rams have four straight games that are scheduled to be on national television.

None of the league’s schedule-makers or the executives at the various TV networks could have predicted the Rams would be this bad in 2022, which why it seemed fine to backload their schedule with a bunch of marquee games.


But with the Rams sitting at 3-8, they’re not only one of the worst teams in the league, but they’re one of the least exciting now that Cooper Kupp, Matthew Stafford, Allen Robinson and even Aaron Donald are out.

It’s unclear whether Stafford or Donald will play in the coming weeks, but Robinson is out for the year and Kupp is sidelined at least a few more weeks. Here’s a look at the Rams’ upcoming schedule from Weeks 14-17.

Week 14: vs. Raiders on Thursday Night Football (12/8)
Week 15: at Packers on Monday Night Football (12/19)
Week 16: vs. Broncos on Christmas Day (12/25)
Week 17: at Chargers on Sunday Night Football (1/1)
It would make a lot of sense for the NFL to just flex the Rams out of their prime-time slots, wouldn’t it? There has to be a more interesting game than Rams-Packers in Week 15.

The problem is, only Sunday Night Football games are eligible to be moved. Thursday and Monday games are locked in and can’t be flexed. The NFL obviously isn’t going to pull the Rams-Broncos game, as bad as it’s expected to be, from the Christmas Day slot, either.

That leaves Rams-Chargers on New Year’s Day as the only possible game that could get flexed. The Rams will almost certainly be out of playoff contention by then, and even if the Chargers are still in it, it won’t be a game with much meaning. Dolphins-Patriots or Jets-Seahawks could bump Rams-Chargers from that slot, potentially.