April 15--The Rams will begin the 2016 season in the spotlight.
They play the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara on Sept. 12.
Their next game might be even bigger.
The Rams play host to the Seattle Seahawks in the FOX national game in what will mark Pete Carroll's return to the Coliseum, where he turned USC into a college football juggernaut.
The Rams are scheduled to play the next three seasons at the Coliseum while their new Inglewood stadium is under construction. That makes scheduling a problem because of the challenge of maintaining the grass for back-to-back college and pro games.
Only twice this fall will the Rams and USC play on the same weekend at the Coliseum, in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills and in Week 9 when Cam Newton and the NFC champion Carolina Panthers come to town.
The Rams have a travel-heavy schedule that includes two trips to the East Coast -- to play the New York Jets and New England Patriots -- and an Oct. 23 game in London, where they will be the home team against the New York Giants.
To ease their travel, the Rams requested to the NFL that they play a game in the Eastern time zone immediately before the London game. That will enable them to fly directly to London instead of returning home in the interim.
The NFL granted that request by scheduling the Rams at Detroit in Week 6.
Although the Rams do not have a Sunday night game, they do play on Thursday night at Seattle in Week 15, before closing the season with NFC West home games against the 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals.
The game against the Cardinals marks quarterback Carson Palmer's first game at the Coliseum since clinching the 2002 Heisman Trophy by leading USC to victory over Notre Dame.
Here is the Rams' week-by-week schedule:
Sept. 12: at San Francisco, 7:20 p.m. (ESPN)
Sept. 18: SEATTLE, 1:05 p.m. (FOX)
Sept. 25: at Tampa, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Oct. 2: at Arizona, 1:25 p.m. (FOX)
Oct. 9: BUFFALO, 1:25 p.m. (CBS)
Oct. 16: at Detroit, 10 a.m. (FOX)
Oct. 23: vs. Giants at London, 6:30 a.m. (NFL)
Oct. 30: off
Nov. 6: CAROLINA, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Nov. 13: at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m. (FOX)
Nov. 20: MIAMI, 1 p.m. (FOX)
Nov. 27: at New Orleans, 10 a.m. (FOX)
Dec. 4: at New England, 10 a.m. (FOX)
Dec. 11: ATLANTA, 1:15 p.m. (FOX)
Dec. 15: at Seattle, 5:15 p.m. (NBC, NFL)
Dec. 24: SAN FRANCISCO, 1:15 p.m. (FOX)
Jan. 1: ARIZONA, 1:15 p.m. (FOX)
Super Bowl: Feb. 5 at NRG Stadium, Houston
