By the Numbers: Bills, Rams set for heavyweight opener Thursday on TSN

The opening game of any season begets anticipation. But Thursday’s 2022 opener is more than football fans’ the NFL is back moment. It’s a primetime showdown of two serious Super Bowl contenders.

Watch the showdown LIVE from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on TSN1/3/4, TSN.ca and the TSN App at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. You can also watch NFL RedZone beginning Sunday at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on TSN.ca and the TSN App.

According to Football Power Index – a metric that measures a team’s true strength on net points scale – the Bills (13.3 per cent) and Rams (12.8 per cent) have the highest chances to reach the Super Bowl this season.

The defending-champion Rams will look to be the first team to repeat as champs since the 2003-2004 New England Patriots and in doing so would break the longest stretch without a repeat champion in league history. The Bills, on the other hand, are looking to finally break through and win their first Lombardi Trophy after losing four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993. With Josh Allen considered one of the favourites to win the MVP award and the rest of the roster as well-rounded as any team, expectations are sky-high in western New York.

Here are some numbers to be aware of ahead of Thursday’s opener.

Past openers

Reigning champions are 14-2 playing in Thursday season openers since 2004. The last team to lose was the 2017 Patriots and that team still made it back to the Super Bowl. L.A. is 5-0 in season openers under head coach Sean McVay and owns the second longest active streak in opener wins behind the Kansas City Chiefs, who have won seven straight dating back to 2015.

Buffalo’s last three wins in season openers came against the New York Jets with the Bills having lost three straight to other