St. Louis handed an easy schedule

ST. LOUIS -- A Sunday night game in Dallas and a Monday night game in Indianapolis are among the highlights of the St. Louis Rams' 2005 regular-season schedule, the Rams announced Wednesday.

The Rams' opponents had a combined record of 114-142 last season, giving St. Louis the easiest schedule in the NFL based on 2004 results.

The Rams will open with two road games against NFC West opponents -- a 3:15 p.m. game Sept. 11 at San Francisco, and a 3:05 p.m. game Sept. 18 at Arizona, where longtime St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner now is playing.

The home opener is Sept. 25, a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIV against the Tennessee Titans. It will mark Tennessee's first regular-season game in St. Louis.

St. Louis plays the Colts at the RCA Dome on Oct. 17 in a game on ABC's Monday Night Football. The Rams conclude the regular season Jan. 1 against the Cowboys in a game televised on ESPN.

The full schedule of New Year's Day games will conclude the NFLseason, which also includes the first full slate of Christmas Eve games since 1995.

The season opener on Sept. 8 has Oakland at New England, part of the new policy to have the Super Bowl champions open the season on a Thursday night.

The NFC's top two teams last year, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Atlanta Falcons, will play on the first Monday night game, Sept. 12 in Atlanta.

Indianapolis and New England will play a Monday night game in Foxboro, Mass. The Colts have lost five straight to the Patriots and Manning is 0-7 in Foxboro, including playoff losses the last two years.

On Oct. 2, San Francisco and Arizona will play the first regular-season game outside the United States, meeting in a night game in Mexico City. The Cardinals will be the home team.