Lions' visit to St. Louis on Oct. 1 will mark Martz's return to dome

ST. LOUIS -- Mike Martz will be back pacing the Edward Jones Dome sidelines this season -- but on the other side of the artificial turf.

The NFL released the 2006 schedule on Thursday. The Rams will open Sept. 10 with a home game against Denver, then travel for road games the following two weeks against NFC West rivals San Francisco and Arizona.

St. Louis will host the Detroit Lions, with Martz as their new offensive coordinator, on Oct. 1.

Martz, who led the Rams to the 2002 Super Bowl and four playoff appearances in six seasons as head coach, was fired after a 6-10 2005 season. He missed the last 11 games as he recovered from a bacterial infection of a heart valve.

The Rams' only game in prime time this season will be a Monday night contest against Chicago on Dec. 11. The Bears are led by another coach with St. Louis ties, Lovie Smith, who served for three seasons as defensive coordinator under Martz.

Other highlights include a Nov. 5 home game against the cross-state rival Kansas City Chiefs; and a Dec. 3 home game against the Cardinals, the team that left St. Louis for Arizona in 1987 and is led by quarterback Kurt Warner, a two-time MVP during his years with the Rams.

It's possible more games could be moved to prime time, depending on how the Rams do during the first nine weeks. The league this season has added flexible scheduling for its Sunday Night telecasts on NBC. The Sunday night games for weeks 10 through 15 and 17 will be set at a later date.

St. Louis had the easiest scheduled in the NFL in 2005, based on opponents' records from the previous season. This year, the Rams' schedule ranks 15th. Their opponents were a combined 130-126 in 2005. They play nine games against teams with 2005 records above .500, seven against sub-.500 teams.

The Rams will see plenty of the West this season. In addition to the divisional games at Arizona, Seattle and San Francisco, they'll travel to San Diego and Oakland.

The Rams have also finalized their preseason schedule. It includes home games at 7 p.m. Aug. 10 against the Indianapolis Colts and 7 p.m. Aug. 19 against the Houston Texans; and road games at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 26 at Kansas City and 6:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at Miami.

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Rams schedule

Regular season

Sept. 10 Denver noon

Sept. 17 at San Francisco 3:05 p.m.

Sept. 24 at Arizona 3:15 p.m.

Oct. 1 Detroit 3:05 p.m.

Oct. 8 at Green Bay noon

Oct. 15 Seattle noon

Oct. 22 Bye --

Oct. 29 at San Diego 3:05 p.m.

Nov. 5 Kansas City noon

Nov. 12 at Seattle 3:15 p.m.

Nov. 19 at Carolina noon

Nov. 26 San Francisco noon

Dec. 3 Arizona noon

Dec. 11 Chicago 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 17 at Oakland 3:15 p.m.

Dec. 24 Washington noon

Dec. 31 at Minnesota noon