NFL: Rams return to Los Angeles with a bang

Todd Gurley cuts through the hole during the game against the Seattle Seahawks. Photo / Getty Images

Nostalgia was the dominant feeling for excited Rams fans on Monday as they watched their team play their first National Football League game at the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 37 years.

Win or lose against the visiting Seattle Seahawks, it hardly mattered for the Rams faithful on a gorgeous afternoon of unrelenting sunshine with temperatures peaking at 31 degrees Celsius.

The fact that Los Angeles, relying on superb defence, ground out a stunning 9-3 victory over the Super Bowl champions of two seasons ago in front of a crowd of just more than 90,000 came as a welcome bonus in their opening home game of the season.

Much more important for their fans was the sight of the Rams players, wearing 'throwback' royal blue and yellow uniforms, on their return to the City of Angels.

The Rams had not played a regular season game at the cavernous Coliseum since 1979, with the franchise moving to nearby Anaheim later that year before heading further afield after the 1994 season, to St. Louis, for the next two decades.

Now they are back in Los Angeles where they will play at the fabled Coliseum until construction of the nearby Inglewood Stadium is completed and the venue is opened for the 2019 season.

Los Angeles-based journalist Kevin Modesti, who became an enthusiastic Rams fan in the 1970s, said he had experienced strong feelings of nostalgia since the team's return to California.

"When I think of the Rams, I still think of those teams from the 1970s and how big they were then," Modesti, an editorial writer for the Los Angeles Daily News, told Reuters.

"NFL was big back then but I'm not sure it was recognised as the number one American sport the way it is now.

"So it wouldn't have been automatic to say that in the 1960s and the 1970s the LA Rams would have been the biggest thing in the town, but I have to say they kind of were."

The Rams are not expected to set the league alight with the quality of their play, having posted just four winning campaigns during their 21 years in St. Louis and a cumulative 64-127-1 record.

Based on Monday's performance against the Seahawks, the Rams may well spring a few more surprises for their fans on the field.

Despite a misfiring offence, the Rams beat Seattle for a third straight time thanks to three Greg Zuerlein field goals and brilliant defence, especially in the final quarter when their opponents pressed hard.

Seahawks running back Christine Michael fumbled after taking a pass from quarterback Russell Wilson and Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree recovered with just under a minute left to seal the win amid thunderous roars from the crowd.