In this Sept. 16, 2018, file photo, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (17) calls a play at the line during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y.Rich Barnes/The Associated Press
During the NFL’s 21-year absence from Los Angeles, the area’s professional football fans survived just fine. They watched the best game of each week on television, and they rooted for their favourite teams from afar.
Or more likely, they just went to the beach.
Now that the Rams have returned and the Chargers have arrived to saturate the second-largest U.S. metro area with a home game nearly every weekend, Los Angeles fans have a wealth of football at their doors.
What L.A. doesn’t have is a true local rivalry – not yet, and maybe not ever.
The Chargers (1-1) and the Rams (2-0) will meet on the Coliseum field Sunday for the first time since their relocations. The players and coaches on both sides agree that any attempt to portray this Week 3 schedule quirk as a fight for the city’s heart would be a cheesy ploy of marketing or motivation.
“I’m glad L.A. has got two teams, but it doesn’t matter,” Rams cornerback Marcus Peters said. “Come on. They’re in the AFC. We’re in the NFC.”
Although they’ll be roommates in a multibillion-dollar Inglewood stadium complex in 2020, Los Angeles’s two franchises are divided by conference alignment, a lack of history – even the 150 kilometres of freeway traffic between their training bases in Thousand Oaks and Costa Mesa.
They’re unlikely to meet much more often than once every four seasons under NFL scheduling policies. As the 49ers and Raiders can attest, that’s not a recipe for a rivalry, even if the teams also schedule an annual preseason meeting.
“It’s hard to have a true rivalry [with] a team once every four years,” Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said. “I think, as players in the locker room, we see it as a fight for game No. 3. You know, find a way to get to 2-1. So it’s something I guess both teams are obviously getting used to, with both being in the same area. But I don’t sense that they’re becoming a huge rival, because you’re not going to see them twice a year. You’re not going to see them every year.”
So don’t expect a crackling derby atmosphere at the Coliseum. Instead, expect a high-level game between two potential Super Bowl contenders.