The Los Angeles Rams title defense begins in earnest on Thursday night as the reigning Super Bowl Champions will raise their banner into the rafters at SoFi Stadium for NFL's Opening Night to the 2022 season.
Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp and Jalen Ramsey all return to kickoff the new season, as they seek to become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl Champions since the New England Patriots in 2003-2004.
The first team standing in their way is Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.
"It's going to be fun," said Donald ahead of Thursday's opener. "I'm pretty sure it's going to be loud…We definitely got to go out there and play a good team and try to find a way to win."
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The Bills fell short of the Super Bowl in the AFC Divisional Round last season and revamped by adding former Rams linebacker Von Miller to their already stellar defense. The Bills are the preseason Vegas favorites to win the Super Bowl LVII in in Arizona.
"Going to play the defending Super Bowl champs and watching them raise their banner, that'll be an interesting feeling for sure," said Allen of their Week 1 trip to Los Angeles. "And I've talked to a few people who have played and coached in this game before, and just really the unanimous thing that they were talking about was it feels like a playoff atmosphere. So, we got to understand that going in, not get too high, not get too low. Understand the flow of the game and just try to put our best foot forward."
Defeating the champs in their own stadium on the night they raise their championship banner will be a tough task for the Bills. Since Sean McVay was hired as the head coach of the Rams in 2017, they are a perfect 5-0 in season openers, and defending champions are a total of 19-3 in Week 1 since 2000.
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Fans heading to the game should expect heavy traffic delays an plan to arrive at least an hour before kickoff. All parking lots at SoFi Stadium will open at 1:00PM PT and the stadium gates will open at 3:00PM PT. The raising of the Rams Super Bowl LVI Championship banner will begin at precisely 4:50PM PT.
All fans in attendance will receive a commemorative banner, as well as an NFT inspired by the Rams Super Bowl victory.
The national anthem will be performed by singer Tinashe, and musician Halle Bailey will perform "Lift Every Voice and Sing," before kickoff.
The Rams also held a moment of silence in honor of the passing of England's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday at the age of 96.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy Award winner Ozzy Osbourne will perform at halftime.
Kickoff is scheduled for 5:20PM PT and will air live on NBC and can be streamed on Peacock.
