After opening the season against divisional rival Philadelphia, the Redskins will head out west for a competition against a familiar face in Sean McVay.
Week 1 is in the books, and the Washington Redskins must now prepare for a seven-day turnaround against an opponent on the opposite side of the country.
The Los Angeles Rams, led by former Washington offensive coordinator Sean McVay, will take on the Redskins Sept. 17 in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The game will be televised on Fox with a 4:25 p.m. EST kickoff.
When Washington head coach Jay Gruden was 31 years old, he was coaching the Orlando Predators, an Arena Football League team. Meanwhile, McVay, who turned 31 in January, is already one week into a career as the youngest head coach in the NFL.
McVay is no stranger to the Redskins, having spent three seasons in D.C. as an offensive coordinator under Gruden and seven total with the organization. McVay, now leading the Rams, took the head coaching gig back in January.
The last time the Redskins and Rams met, the latter was months away from moving back to the California. The St. Louis Rams of 2015 came out worse for wear in that matchup, falling to Washington 24-10 at FedExField in Landover, Md.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins, the relatively new Redskins starter at the time, looked as efficient as ever, going 23-of-27 for 203 yards and a touchdown to boot. Then-rookie Matt Jones gave the offense an added dimension, bustling his way to 123 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.
Washington leads the overall series against the Rams 25-13-1. While the Rams are a much different team in 2017, many questions still linger on both sides of the ball.
At receiver, the Rams upgraded by acquiring Sammy Watkins after his departure from Buffalo. With the Bills, Watkins recorded a 1,000-yard season in 2015. However, his production dropped off significantly the following year and he only managed 430 yards after struggling with a string of foot injuries.
A look back at top images in games between the Washington Redskins and St. Louis Rams.
The big question for Los Angeles heading into 2017 was if running back Todd Gurley would finally flush out into the promising player that earned him a high selection in the 2015 draft. Gurley had seemed to be on the edge of a breakout year, averaging almost a thousand yards in each of his two NFL seasons, but never seemed to hit the high mark promised by scouts.
Speaking of promising newcomers, second-year quarterback Jared Goff failed to look deserving of the 1st-overall selection in his debut season. Goff tossed five touchdowns compared to seven interceptions in 2016 and barely broke a 50 percent completion rate.
While Goff is expected to start against the Redskins, the young quarterback from Cal will have to face a secondary led by elite pass defender Josh Norman come Sunday, making his new job that much harder.
On defense, the Rams performed admirably in 2016, ranking as the NFL's ninth best defense. However, they had trouble keeping teams from scoring in the end zone, sitting at 24th in points allowed per game. With Cousins and a strong company of tight ends attacking through the air, Washington should be able to capitalize once within striking distance.
