Intra-city rivals will clash in the preseason opener on Saturday night when the Los Angeles Rams take on the Los Angeles Chargers at Sofi Stadium. The Rams will look to defend their Super Bowl title after lifting the Lombardi Trophy last February following a 12-5 regular season. A loaded Chargers team is expected to take a step forward after narrowly missing a playoff berth with a 9-8 record.
These teams also met to open the 2021 preseason, with the Chargers winning a 13-6 defensive struggle.
The one piece missing for the Rams prior to 2021 was quarterback, and the addition of Matthew Stafford paid immediate dividends as they won Super Bowl LVI with a dramatic triumph over the Cincinnati Bengals. With most key pieces returning to play for one of the NFL's best head coaches in Sean McVay, the Rams are among the betting favorites to lift the Lombardi Trophy again this season.
McVay is adamant about playing few if any starters during the preseason, and with Stafford currently nursing an elbow injury, we certainly won't see him at all on Saturday. That will leave the quarterback rotation down to backup John Wolford, third stringer Bryce Perkins, and former USFL signal caller Luis Perez.
The Rams went winless across the three preseason games in 2021, getting outscored 47-34 as the offense didn't have much of a sense of urgency. McVay is now 6-9 in his presea son career, although last year's results may be more indicative of what we see moving forward given how he has only become more reluctant to play any starters at all over time.
This was a strong regular offense a year ago with an average of 27.1 points and 373.2 yards per game to rank seventh in the NFL in both categories. The defense was closer to the middle of the pack, allowing 21.9 points and 333 yards per contest.
With all the stars out, one player to watch will be second-year receiver Tutu Atwell, a 2021 second-round pick who is making some noise in camp after being limited to special teams duty in his rookie campaign. A fellow second-year player in Jake Funk is also trying to climb the depth chart at running back, and will feature prominently after turning in a strong preseason in 2021.
Some key players in addition to Stafford are nursing injuries, including safety Jordan Fuller (ankle), corner Jalen Ram sey (shoulder), wideot Van Jefferson (knee) and linebacker Leonard Floyd (ankle). Wide receiver Brandon Powell (knee), linebacker Chris Garrett (groin), running back Kyren Williams (foot), tight end Jacob Harris (groin), running back Xavier Jones (Achillies), linebacker Travin Howard (groin) and safety Quentin Lake (undisclosed) are also dealing with injury trouble.