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The Rams are playing an opponent on Sunday that will be without its star quarterback and other noteworthy starters.

Sound familiar?

A week after the Rams lost to the seemingly undermanned San Francisco 49ers, they will travel to play the Lamar Jackson-less Baltimore Ravens and M&T Bank Stadium. It’s the start of an extended road trip that will see the Rams remain in Baltimore to prepare for their Oct. 19 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

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Gary Klein breaks down what to expect from the Rams as they prepare to face the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday before flying to London ahead of their Week 7 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“You can never go into a game and be like, ‘Oh man, we’re about to walk over somebody,’” Rams defensive lineman Kobie Turner said. “It’s all NFL guys. You don’t bring your A-game for one time and you’re going to get cooked.”

The Rams found the hard way in a 26-23 overtime defeat by the 49ers. Backup quarterback Mac Jones carved up the defense with quick passes that staved off the pass rush and challenged linebackers and defensive backs.

Jackson is out because of a hamstring injury, so Cooper Rush is expected to start.

“You have to remind yourself it’s any given Sunday,” safety Quentin Lake said. “You’re sometimes like, ‘Oh man, Lamar’s out or whoever their top-tier players are.’ But now the guys coming in are even more hungry because they have to prove themselves. They’re going to give it their all and they have nothing to lose.”

The last time the Rams visited M&T Bank Stadium, they lost when the Ravens returned a punt for a walk-off touchdown.

Special teams are once again an issue for the Rams.

They have had four kicks blocked this season, including an extra-point attempt in the loss to the 49ers.

The NFL always provides surprises.

Who could have predicted the Rams would lose to the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles when the Eagles blocked a potential winning field-goal attempt on the final play and returned it for a touchdown?

Now the Rams face something else completely unexpected: The unbeaten Indianapolis Colts.

When the schedule was announced last spring, the Colts looked like a relatively easy matchup for the Rams sandwiched between games against the Eagles and a Thursday night game against the NFC West rival San Francisco 49ers.

But energized by quarterback Daniel Jones and running back Jonathan Taylor, the Colts will arrive at SoFi Stadium with one of the NFL’s top offenses and an unblemished record after victories over the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans.

Jones, 28, has been the biggest surprise.

After six seasons with the New York Giants and a short stint late last season with the Minnesota Vikings, Jones has been outstanding for the Colts.

He has passed for three touchdowns, with no interceptions, and has rushed for three touchdowns.

“Going from the Giants, where he did well for certain years and then kind of fell off and then came back,” Rams safety Quentin Lake said. “You’re looking at a quarterback that has nothing to lose because people already wrote him off.”

The Colts also rank seventh in total defense.

The Rams welcome the opportunity to play another tough opponent after the stunning loss to the Eagles.

“When you go from tough challenge to tough challenge, from the Eagles to a team that is red-hot… you can still keep your intensity rather than going into a game where it’s like a team coming in 0-3 or 1-2,” Lake said.

Fresh off a toppling of Kansas City, the Chargers make their second stop on their whirlwind tour of the AFC West to face another familiar foe.

It’s Jim Harbaugh versus Pete Carroll, a coaching rivalry that began when Harbaugh was at Stanford and Carroll was at USC, and continued with Harbaugh at the San Francisco 49ers and Carroll at the Seattle Seahawks.

“You’d be friends,” Harbaugh said. “You’d be almost like brothers if it wasn’t for being on opposite sidelines. It’s the kind of guy you’d send a Christmas card to, but you don’t, because you’re too busy trying to scratch each other’s eyeballs out. Nature of the business. Dog-eat-dog.”

Like the Chargers, the Raiders opened with a win on the road, a 20-13 victory at New England.

The Las Vegas defense clamped down in that one, allowing the Patriots just 60 yards on the ground and a four-of-14 performance on third downs.

Geno Smith threw for 362 yards in his Raiders debut, and rookie Ashton Jeanty ran for his first NFL touchdown.

Tight end Brock Bowers had five catches for 103 yards before leaving the game with a banged-up knee.

How the Chargers can win: Get to Smith, who was sacked four times in the opener. Don’t allow him the time to complete those deep passes. Get a command performance from that array of receivers who put on a show in Brazil. Let Justin Herbert keep the Raiders’ defense honest by tearing off an off-schedule run or two.

How the Raiders can win: Put the ball in the hands of Bowers, providing he’s back up to full speed. Get a breakout game from Jeanty, who did score against the Patriots but only averaged two yards per carry. Take advantage of a reshuffled Chargers offensive line, something the Chiefs couldn’t do.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford, the linchpin to the Rams’ aspirations for another Super Bowl appearance, emerged largely unscathed from a season-opening victory over the Houston Texans, but another great challenge awaits the offensive line Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

Left guard Steve Avila is doubtful because of an ankle injury and right guard Kevin Dotson will be playing through an ankle issue.

Not great news for a group that must contain Titans defensive end Jeffery Simmons.

“He is really disruptive,” Stafford said of Simmons, who sacked Stafford three times in a Rams defeat in 2021, “gets off on the count, physical, fast and plays with a nasty streak.”

To reinforce the line and help establish the rushing attack, coach Sean McVay could deploy multiple tight ends.

The Rams’ defense faces quarterback Cam Ward, the top pick in the NFL draft.

Ward completed 12 of 28 passes for 112 yards in a 20-12 defeat by the Denver Broncos. He was sacked six times.

“He didn’t play bad last week,” Rams edge rusher Byron Young said. “He looked pretty comfortable back there even though he got sacked a few times. He was handling himself pretty well. … He knows what he’s doing. Even though he’s a rookie, he’s definitely somebody you can’t sleep on.”