2016 Los Angeles Rams Schedule: Full Listing of Dates, Times and TV Info

The Rams franchise has a new city. Until Thursday morning, everything else appeared to be largely the same as well. 

Whoops.

In a blockbuster move, the Rams sent a boatload of picks to the Tennessee Titans to move up to the No. 1 overall selection, as the team announced on Twitter. The overwhelming likelihood here is that the team will select Carson Wentz or Jared Goff when they turn in their pick in a couple weeks. 

Wentz has gone from nationally unheralded to the darling of the 2016 class in the span of months, while Goff's been a can't-miss prospect since arriving at Cal. Neither is viewed on the same plane as the likes of Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota were a year ago, but their options were otherwise pretty dreary. 

The starting job was expected to be Case Keenum's, which was, uhh, problematic. Keenum is an average checkdown artist when he's at his best; at his worst, he's someone who is going to get an underneath receiver seriously injured.

Headed into their first season in Los Angeles, the Rams have the same polarizing head coach. The same dilapidated quarterback situation. The same dreary receiving corps that has somehow had only one player (Kenny Britt) top 500 yards each of the last two seasons.

Coming off a season where they finished with the fourth-fewest points in football, this was a decidedly anti-Los Angeles team. The biggest attraction on the roster was Todd Gurley, whose big-play style will attract some fans but not those looking for an all-out aerial attraction.

Now the Rams appear to have gone all in on one of those two signal-callers. Let's just take a look at the Rams' 2016 slate and see where they'll stand.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Time (ET)	TV
1	Sept. 12	at San Francisco 49ers	10:20 p.m.	ESPN
2	Sept. 18	vs. Seattle Seahawks	4:05 p.m.	Fox
3	Sept. 25	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4:05 p.m.	Fox
4	Oct. 2	at Arizona Cardinals	4:25 p.m.	Fox
5	Oct. 9	vs. Buffalo Bills	4:25 p.m.	CBS
6	Oct. 16	at Detroit Lions	1 p.m.	Fox
7	Oct. 23	vs. New York Giants (in London)	9:30 a.m.	NFLN
8	BYE
9	Nov. 6	vs. Carolina Panthers	4:05 p.m.	Fox
10	Nov. 13	at New York Jets	1 p.m.	Fox
11	Nov. 20	vs. Miami Dolphins	4:05 p.m.	Fox
12	Nov. 27	at New Orleans Saints	1 p.m.	Fox
13	Dec. 4	at New England Patriots	1 p.m.	Fox
14	Dec. 11	vs. Atlanta Falcons	4:25 p.m.	Fox
15	Dec. 15	at Seattle Seahawks	8:25 p.m.	NBC, NFLN
16	Dec. 24	vs. San Francisco 49ers	4:25 p.m.	Fox
17	Jan. 1	vs. Arizona Cardinals	4:25 p.m.	Fox

Analysis 

Nick Ut/Associated Press

By virtue of playing in one of the NFL's toughest divisions and having difficult matchups outside the division, the Rams have the third-toughest schedule in football. The year-to-year carryover in these instances is always a little shaky, but things don't get much better when examining things deeper.

Let's start with the obvious: The Rams will be underdogs for at least four, likely five, of their divisional matchups.

The Seahawks and Cardinals fashion themselves as Super Bowl contenders—and with good reason. Seattle underperformed last season and came within a touchdown of taking down the eventual NFC champions.

Arizona made it to the NFC Championship Game. Both return a majority of their key contributors, and they even made some offseason additions. The 49ers will likely be bad in 2016, but they'll probably be favored at home against a similarly skilled team.

Outside the division, the Rams are looking at difficult road games at the Patriots and Jets; they're probably touchdown underdogs based on 2015 results.

Playing at New Orleans, Detroit and Tampa isn't intimidating on paper, but all three teams head into the season with pressure to be competitive.

The Saints are pushing forward with the Sean Payton-Drew Brees combo despite years of diminishing results; the Bucs unseated Lovie Smith despite a four-win improvement; the Lions are probably firing everyone with another bad season.

There are no games on the schedule where the Rams are obvious favorites. The Bills and Dolphins view themselves as AFC playoff contenders. The Giants might be renewed with the Tom Coughlin era finally over, and even the 49ers have some hope with Chip Kelly in the fold.

Los Angeles has a strong defense, but it got weaker this offseason with the loss of Janoris Jenkins, Chris Long, etc. With the offense not discernibly better, the Rams will walk into 10-12 of their games as underdogs.

Pivotal Matchups

The Rams aren't competing with Arizona and Seattle for the division, nor is it likely to come close to a wild-card spot. This team is much closer to the outfit that was 4-8 before a trio of wins in one-score games propelled it to a respectable finish. Jeff Fisher probably should have been ousted, and the organization should have taken a long, hard look at the likes of Robert Griffin III as a quarterback option.

Going with a Goff or a Wentz might pay long-term dividends. But neither feel like immediate Pro Bowlers. The franchise is already picking up shop and moving cities. To make a big move like this when there are still obvious holes on the roster is a pretty big undertaking. 

The team the Rams bring over from St. Louis doesn't have much to write home about. Their most important matchups of the season may be down the stretch when they're fighting for the bottom of draft position. It's hard to see Fisher lasting another losing season; the team hasn't even won eight games in his previous four seasons.

The Rams are betting huge the quarterback they take atop this class will work out. This whole franchise is going to undergo a facelift before the grand opening of their stadium in 2019, and 2016 is looking more like a beginning to the rebuilding project than anything. Here's to hoping they pick the right guy. 

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter