LA Rams HC Sean McVay might have just given the rest of the NFL the blueprint for international success
The Los Angeles Rams made international history against the Jaguars, and the rest of the NFL is going to take notice
The Los Angeles Rams completely blew out the Jacksonville Jaguars in the last London game of the season, winning 35-7 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate. The Rams got off to a hot start, rattling off two touchdowns on their first two drives and went into halftime up 21-0.
With so many of these international games, teams are often sluggish and look more like a jumbled mess (which was the case with the Jaguars today, who had numerous drops and 13 penalties on the day). However, the Rams resembled more of a machine, dominating the Jaguars on both sides of the ball with ease. The defense had their best game of the season, destroying Jacksonville up front.
A big part of that could be due to their entirely different travel schedule for this week. The Rams were the first team in NFL history to embrace a new travel schedule for a London game, and it paid off in a big way for them over the Jaguars.
Rams make international history in more ways than one
Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford made international history against the Jaguars when he became the first quarterback to throw for five touchdowns overseas. However, he wasn’t the only Ram to make history. In fact, the entire Rams team did something no team has done before for an international game, and it might be the new wave that the rest of the NFL will be quick to embrace.
The Rams stayed in Baltimore, who they played last week, all week, practicing on the east coast. Then, they decided to not show up to London until Saturday morning, just a little over 24 hours before their game kicked off. Over the past few years, most teams have left the United States on Thursday night to land on Friday morning. That’s what McVay and the Rams did the last time they played in London back in 2019. On the other hand, some teams will head out to England early so they can get adjusted to the different time zone, which is five hours ahead of eastern time.
However, the Rams became the first team to embrace an entirely new arrival time. They also became the first team to use Camden Yards as their practice facility while they were in Baltimore, according to MLB.com. It was a weekend of firsts for the Rams, but it was far from their first win of the year, and they now head into their bye week 5-2 with plenty of momentum on their side.
The NFL is a copycat league and they’ve been copying McVay for nearly a decade. With this dominant performance over the Jaguars, I feel pretty confident in saying that you’ll see start to see other teams shift to the Saturday travel plan in the future.
Los Angeles Rams News
Rams report card: Surprises, standouts, and disappointments from the first third of the 2025 season
The Los Angeles Rams are 4-2 and in a dogfight for the NFC West. There’s room for improvement, but they are without a doubt a real Super Bowl contender.
