Rams and Chargers haven’t quite made it to rivalry stage
During the NFL’s 21-year absence from Los Angeles, the area’s professional football fans survived just fine. They watched the best game of each week on television, and they rooted for their favorite teams from afar.
Or more likely, they just went to the beach.
Now that the Rams have returned and the Chargers have arrived to saturate the nation’s second-largest market with a home game nearly every weekend, Los Angeles fans have a wealth of football at their doors.
What LA doesn’t have is a true local rivalry not yet, and maybe not ever.
The Chargers (1-1) and the Rams (20) will meet on the Coliseum field today for the first time since their relocations. The players and coaches on both sides agree that any attempt to portray this Week 3 schedule quirk as a fight for the city’s heart would be a cheesy ploy of marketing or motivation.
“Not at all, not at all,” Rams defensive lineman Michael Brockers said when asked if there’s a rivalry.
“I still think they are San Diego,” Brockers added. “I still say San Diego Chargers, you know, so I don’t think it’s going to ever be a rivalry. I think we’re just sharing a city and sharing a stadium. I don’t think it will ever be turning into anything serious . ... Two different conferences. Two different divisions. I think them being so far away, they’re in Orange County, we’re all the way up here (in Ventura County), so we never see them. There’s just no conflict.”
Although they’ll be roommates in a multi-billion-dollar Inglewood stadium complex in 2020, Los Angeles’ two franchises are divided by conference alignment, a lack of history even the 94 miles of freeway traffic between their training bases in Thousand Oaks and Costa Mesa.
They’re unlikely to meet much more often than once every four seasons under NFL scheduling policies. As the 49ers and Raiders can attest, that’s not a recipe for a rivalry, even if the teams also schedule an annual preseason meeting.
“It’s hard to have a true rivalry (with) a team once every four years,” Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said. “I think as players in the locker room, we see it as a fight for game No. 3. You know, find a way to get to 2-1. So it’s something I guess both teams are obviously getting used to, with both being in the same area. But I don’t sense that they’re becoming a huge rival, because you’re not going to see them twice a year. You’re not going to see them every year.”
LA might not have a rivalry, but it has two solid teams coming off winning seasons in 2017. Both clubs’ offenses and defenses are ranked in the league’s top 10, and both rosters are fairly stacked with stars and compelling matchups.
In other games
RAIDERS (0-2) AT DOLPHINS (2-0) Miami has been winning the field position battle, is tied for the NFL lead with five interceptions — the Dolphins had nine all last year — and has allowed only seven points in four red-zone possessions by opponents. Healthy QB Ryan Tannehill is 9-1 in his past 10 starts; he missed the 2017 season with a knee injury. Meanwhile, the Raiders are allowing 5.7 yards per rush, worst in the league. They are tied for last with only one takeaway and have all of two sacks.
COLTS (1-1) AT EAGLES (1-1)
One of several games with tasty matchups. The Super Bowl champions get back Carson Wentz, whose major knee injury last December led to Nick Foles taking over at quarterback and winning the title. Wentz is healthy, which means he’ll play. “It’s been a long time coming,” Wentz says. “It’s been quite the grind of an offseason. There’s a lot of excitement, a lot of built-up — almost anxiety over when it was going to be.” It will be against the offensive coordinator, Frank Reich, who had a big role in Wentz’s quick development. Reich now coaches the Colts, who have their own star QB back from injury, Andrew Luck. Luck has thrown a TD pass in 25 consecutive games, the league’s longest active streak.
PATRIOTS (1-1) AT LIONS (0-2)
Matt Patricia spent 14 seasons working for Bill Belichick in New England. Rarely did he deal with what has gone on the past two weeks with the Lions. They have looked inept at times, Matthew Stafford has little protection and has thrown a league-high five picks. Detroit is 30th in rushing defense, which must make defensive guru Patricia cringe. Belichick is 14-8 against former assistants. New England is 45-6 after losing a game since 2003 and didn’t lose two straight in 2016 or 2017. It fell at Jacksonville last Sunday.
BRONCOS (2-0) AT RAVENS (1-1)
One more spicy matchup, this one on the defensive side. Led by Von Miller, the Broncos seem to have rekindled the Orange Crush. He leads the NFL with four sacks, a rate that would give him a record 32. Don’t bet against him. Denver has allowed only five third-down conversions in 22 tries, the best rate (22.7 percent) in the NFL. The Ravens rank second on D, no surprise there. But they’ll likely be missing three-time Pro Bowl LB C.J. Mosley (knee).
SAINTS (1-1) AT FALCONS (1-1)
In perhaps the toughest division, both of these 2017 playoff teams have been way too inconsistent. The Saints opened with two home games, losing to Tampa Bay and getting lucky to beat Cleveland. The defense was awful in the opener, the offense struggled last week. Still, they have Drew Brees, looking for his fourth straight road game with a passer rating of more than 100. WR Michael Thomas has 28 catches, an NFL record for the first two games of a season. Atlanta’s up-and-down nature has been partly caused by injuries, particularly on defense. That’s never a good way to approach a matchup with Brees.
GIANTS (0-2) AT TEXANS (0-2)
The most watchable thing here — if you like defenses creaming quarterbacks — is whether Eli Manning or Deshaun Watson can escape the rush. Watson, who has terrific agility, already has gone down seven times, and he’s not come close to the sensational showings he made as a rookie before tearing up his knee. Even worse, Manning has been sacked eight times and there haven’t been a handful of pass plays on which he didn’t feel pressure. Now, he gets to see J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney close up, with a new center, John Greco, to boot.
COWBOYS (1-1) AT SEAHAWKS (0-2) More sack time coming. In years past, Seattle’s defense would be knocking down quarterbacks. This version of the Seahawks has three sacks as the unit is rebuilt. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson has gone down 12 times, and considering his escapability, that’s scary in Seattle. Dallas barely let Manning breathe last week, has nine sacks from eight players and faces possibly a bigger sieve of a blocking unit this week.
BENGALS (2-0) AT PANTHERS (1-1) Wait, the Bengals are unbeaten? Here’s a real chance to prove they are legit. Cincinnati can get after the passer and will force Cam Newton to be creative. The Bengals are well rested — they beat Baltimore on a Thursday night in Week 2 — and DT Geno Atkins has looked super, getting three sacks and plenty of pressures. But second-year running back Joe Mixon is sidelined, and Carolina has its own dangerous RB from the 2017 draft in Christian McCaffrey. He tied WR Steve Smith’s franchise record with 14 receptions vs. the Falcons. Carolina has won six straight at home.
TITANS (1-1) AT JAGUARS (2-0) Jacksonville being 2-0 is no shock and the Jaguars could seize early control of the AFC South here. They showed plenty of moxie in beating New England last Sunday and hope to have top RB Leonard Fournette healthy. They haven’t been 3-0 in 14 years. Even though the Jags won the division in 2017, they were swept by Tennessee, helping the Titans earn a wild card.
49ERS (1-1) AT CHIEFS (2-0)
It’s not that the Chiefs have won two straight, it’s how they did it. Firsttime starter Patrick Mahomes came out firing and hasn’t let up. He has an NFL-record 10 TD passes through the first two games and has not thrown an interception. Mahomes had six TD passes at Pittsburgh, making him the youngest player in NFL history to accomplish that. San Francisco ranks 25th in pass defense.
BILLS (0-2) AT MINNESOTA (1-0-1) The betting line was so high, above 16 points all week, that it sent fans and bettors scrambling for precedent. Buffalo once was an even bigger underdog at 17 points against Miami in 1985. The Dolphins won 28-0. And 80 teams have been 16-point or more underdogs. Five of those actually won. For the Bills to even come close, they need to give raw rookie QB Josh Allen time to throw, and find a run defense. Minnesota comes off a depressing 29-29 tie at Green Bay in which the Vikings made a solid comeback, but then couldn’t kick the ball straight enough to win. Daniel Carson is gone, replaced by veteran Dan Bailey.
PACKERS (1-0-1) AT WASHINGTON (1-1)
A gimpy Aaron Rodgers remains a prime threat, and he has loads of talent to catch the ball in Davante Adams, Randall Cobb, Geronimo Allison and tight end Jimmy Graham. The pass defense is far too charitable, but rookie CB Josh Jackson recovered a blocked punt for a TD vs. Minnesota. Alex Smith, the top overall draft pick in 2005 when Rodgers went 24th, now is in Washington. He has a defense ranked No. 1 against the pass, so an aerial contest with A-Rod might not develop.
BEARS (1-1) AT CARDINALS (0-2)
The Cardinals and Bears are the only founding members of the NFL still in existence. While Chicago seems to have found its way with Khalil Mack and a defense that leads the league with 10 sacks, Arizona is foundering. The Cardinals didn’t cross midfield vs. the Rams until the next-to-last play. Sam Bradford has not thrown a TD pass, has been intercepted twice and has a 55.6 passer rating.
STEELERS (0-1-1) AT BUCCANEERS (2-0), MONDAY NIGHT
With the Bucs on a roll and Ryan Fitzpatrick demolishing defenses, Pittsburgh could be in trouble. The Steelers have displayed little tackling skill and give up lots of big plays. They rank 30th against the run, a very un-Curtain number. Their offense hasn’t been troubled much by star RB Le’Veon Bell’s holdout thanks to James Conner. This also has the makings of a high-scoring showcase, especially if Ben Roethlisberger can limit his team’s turnovers.