INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — For nearly seven months, Sean McVay has told the Los Angeles Rams their Super Bowl championship guarantees them nothing in this new season except a banner.
“It feels like it was a long time ago,” said McVay, the youngest coach in NFL history to win it all. “It’s one that I’ll always cherish, but I think if you live in the past, you’re going to get exposed in the present. So we’re not going to do that.”
The Rams will unveil that banner Thursday night at SoFi Stadium before they get another reminder of just how little their championship victory on that same field last winter will mean this fall.
The NFL chose Von Miller and the powerhouse Buffalo Bills as the Rams’ opponent in their season opener, practically ensuring a difficult start to a season in which they’re widely perceived to have the league’s toughest schedule. The Rams know they’ll get every opponent’s best shot this year, starting with a visit from a team holding serious championship aspirations of its own.
“Going in to play the defending Super Bowl champs and watching them raise their banner, that’ll be an interesting feeling, for sure,” Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen said. “I’ve talked to a few people that have played and coached in this game before, and just really the unanimous thing that they were talking about was it feels like playoff atmosphere.”
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen gestures while warming up prior to a preseason NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
