Ranking top five NFL Week 1 matchups for Super Bowl champion Rams to kick off 2022 season

The party is just beginning in Los Angeles after the Rams were able to defeat the Bengals to win Super Bowl LVI, but it’s never too early to keep an eye on the season to come. With the Rams serving as the reigning champs, they will follow in the tradition of kicking off the 2022 regular season later this September. Of course, that game will be headlined by the unveiling of a new Super Bowl banner as L.A. basks in the glory of this latest title run before going into the new season to try and repeat.

Naturally, that game carries with it a ton of attention and the NFL typically tries to slot in a marquee opponent to add to the opener. Next year, the Rams are set to host the Cardinals, 49ers, Seahawks, Falcons, Bills, Panthers, Cowboys, Broncos, and Raiders, so it’ll be one of those clubs that’ll help us kick off the 2022 season. Below, we’ll highlight what we believe would be the best opponent to throw into this primetime affair. 

1. Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys are always going to be a popular pick in this scenario if they are an option. In fact, they were the choice last year when the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers kicked off the 2021 regular season at Raymond James Stadium. Not only does Dallas bring with it the biggest brand in all of the NFL, but they are also a playoff team that would make this opener a good game with immediate playoff implications. The Cowboys were the No. 3 seed in the playoffs this year after a 12-5 regular season campaign and feature plenty of stars ranging from Dak Prescott to Micah Parsons. Again, you can’t go wrong firing up a new season with the defending Super Bowl champs and the most recognizable team in the sport. 

2. San Francisco 49ers

I’m a fan of immediate playoff rematches, especially when it’s between rivals. In that spirit, a rematch of the NFC Championship game between the Rams and 49ers to begin the 2022 season would be one heck of a way to start the year. Los Angeles had to rally from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Niners and advance to the Super Bowl in the conference title game, so the wounds are still quite fresh from that 20-17 win. 

The rivalry between Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan would be a main storyline heading into this game, as would the debut of Trey Lance as San Francisco’s Week 1 starter so long as the club moves off of Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason. On top of possibly seeing Lance ascend to QB1, the Niners also have plenty of star power headlined by Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. 

The one reason why this matchup may not happen, however, is due to the NFL not wanting to roll with divisional games out of the gate and instead save those for later in the season as playoff positioning becomes a bit more clear. Still, this is an iconic franchise in a major market that has plenty of recent history against these Rams, which may be hard for the league to turn away from. 

3. Buffalo Bills

Had just a few things fallen differently this postseason, we could have been looking at a Rams-Bills Super Bowl on Sunday. Buffalo is a worthy candidate to be the visiting team in the 2022 opener as they are arguably the toughest opponent they’ll face next season. They currently have the second-best odds of winning Super Bowl LVII, which is one spot above the Rams, and boast an MVP caliber quarterback in Josh Allen to give even more juice to this head-to-head with Matthew Stafford. 

What may have the NFL lean in this direction is the fact that Buffalo plays in the AFC. You’d still get an opener that includes a great quarterback matchup between two playoff teams from a year ago, but you’d also be able to save Los Angeles’ marquee matchups against some of these notable NFC squads for later in the year when they could carry more weight. 

4. Las Vegas Raiders

There’s definitely a tier drop after those top three potential Week 1 opponents, but the Las Vegas Raiders could prove to be an interesting matchup for the league as well. Las Vegas is going into the 2022 season under new leadership and Josh McDaniels making his debut would certainly be a nice added layer for this opener. In the same vein as the Bills, by picking the Raiders, the NFL would save the Rams’ NFC matchups for later in the year for future primetime slots and could even do the same with Buffalo, who is much more likely to be in the playoff picture towards the end of the year than Vegas. 

5. Denver Broncos

The Broncos make this final spot on this list only because we are leaving room for Denver to make a major splash at the quarterback position this offseason. If they can acquire any one of the elite quarterbacks that may be on the trade block — Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, etc. — it would be a fantastic move by the NFL to let us see that signal-caller with his new team right out of the gate and against the defending Super Bowl champions. After all, there could be many parallels drawn between that quarterback on the Broncos and what Matthew Stafford was able to accomplish in his first season with L.A. in 2021.