The Los Angeles Rams already have a tough schedule, but a new hidden metric shows they have a major disadvantage.
The Los Angeles Rams have the 13th toughest schedule in the league, which makes sense given they nearly made it to the Super Bowl in 2026. With many opponents being playoff teams, including the rest of the NFC West, their trip back to a deep playoff run will have some adversity.
Sharp Football Analysis breaks down every metric that can impact a team's success in any given year, and one of the most important is the "net rest days" for every team. The Rams are not only on the negative spectrum of this data, but are near the bottom in advantage on net rest days.
As the data compiling author Warren Sharp puts it, "A rest edge in the NFL is the number of extra days a team has to rest and prepare for their game over their opponent."
Essentially, a net rest day is the days inbetween an opponent, which is given a negative or positive depending on the descrepency.
"An example of rest edge: if the Dolphins have a full 7-day bye week ahead of their game vs. the Bills, and the Bills play on Monday Night Football and are on a short week, the Dolphins have a rest edge of +8 days before their game against the Bills. Conversely, the Bills have a rest edge of -8 days," Sharp wrote.
After compiling the data for each team, the Rams have been hit with a -6 rest day advantage for the 2026 NFL season, which ties them near the bottom of the league with the Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Based on the travels and the days in between their games, Los Angeles has been seemingly hit hard by this data.
Sharp broke down how the advantages of having a positive net rest designation have impacted teams. The Rams were one of the examples, as they had a +8 or better rest day advantage in 2025, leading to 12 wins.
Though this data might sound mega scientific, it is simply putting together the fact that football teams need rest. Putting their bodies on the line requires a significant amount of rest, which may not come at the time that it needs to.
The good news is the Rams have a Week 12 BYE, but it could be their primetime games that are impacting their ability to rest. One big example of this is the Rams having to play the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 20, only to turn around and face the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 25.
This gives the Rams only four days of rest between games, while the Seahawks have five rest days due to playing Dec. 19.
It is very important data when thinking about the miles traveled for games, which the Rams also got hit hard with, as they are No. 2 in the league with over 37,000 miles in the 2026 season.
All of these things could play a big factor in how a team operates and survives a grueling 17-game season and a playoff run.
That's not to say the Rams will not rise to the occassion, but there are some clear disadvantages regarding the deeper details of their 2026 schedule.