Up until the moment the 2022 NFL schedule was announced, no one knew for sure which team would face the Los Angeles Rams in the Week 1 kickoff game. There were a lot of great options, including the Broncos, Cowboys, 49ers, Raiders and Bills, but it was Buffalo that won the sweepstakes.
As enticing as the other matchups would’ve been, Rams-Bills at SoFi Stadium was the best choice. It pits the defending Super Bowl champions against this year’s Super Bowl favorites, while Von Miller will also return to Los Angeles to face the team he won a title with last season.
But the biggest factor in this decision was Josh Allen, according to NFL broadcasting vice president Onnie Bose.
“One of the first things we looked at was, where are we going to play?” Bose said during a conference call. “You’re always looking at, ‘Where’s Aaron Rodgers? Tom Brady? The Dallas Cowboys?’ And this year, it’s ‘Where’s Joe Burrow, where’s Josh Allen gonna play? And very much it was just, your lasting memories of Josh Allen were some of the most incredible quarterback play and it just felt right and made a lot of sense, one, to just put him right back on that spotlight against the Super Bowl champions, and also just for the mix of the rest of the weekend and where we ended up slotting the Sunday night game, the Monday night game, the two doubleheader games. All of those things are interconnected. But it was a strong narrative that we wanted to put out there front and center.”
Many believe Rams-Bills in Week 1 could be a Super Bowl preview, and it’s not a stretch to feel that way. The Bills look like the best team in a highly competitive AFC, while the Rams’ top competitors in the NFC are the Packers and Bucs.
It won’t be easy for the Rams to get back to the Super Bowl, let alone repeat as champions, but this is a team built to contend for years to come – just as the Bills are.
