It appears we know the answer to one of the biggest questions about the Seahawks’ 2026 schedule – who they will play to open the season on Sept. 9 at Lumen Field as they begin defense of their Super Bowl title.
And it will reportedly be a rematch of the Seahawks’ 29-13 Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots last Feb. 8 to capture the second Lombardi Trophy in club history.
NFL reporter Jordan Schultz leaked Wednesday afternoon that the Patriots will come to Lumen Field for the first game of the NFL season, as well as the first time the Seahawks have ever played on a Wednesday.
Kickoff is set for 5:20 p.m. on NBC/Peacock for a game that will be highlighted with the unveiling of the Super Bowl banner.
The announcement that it will be the Patriots was a bit of a surprise as there had been much speculation in recent weeks that the Bears were more likely to be the opponent.
That was in part because of speculation that the league might not want the lingering controversy surrounding Pats coach Mike Vrabel to potentially cast a shadow over the game. As a result, there is likely to be plenty of attention on how the Patriots respond in their first game of the season.
The league couldn’t resist the allure of having the first game of the 2026 regular season be a rematch of the last game of the 2025 season.
It will be the first rematch of a Super Bowl in the regular-season opener since 2016, when Denver beat Carolina 21-20 after beating the Panthers 24-10 the previous February.
It will be the first time the Patriots have played in Seattle since the 2020 season when the Seahawks pulled out a 35-30 win after stopping quarterback Cam Newton on a run from the 1-yard line as time expired.
The Seahawks have hosted the opening game of the regular season once before in 2014, following the first Super Bowl win for the franchise the previous February. They beat the Green Bay Packers in that game 36-16.
The 2026 opener is being played on a Wednesday because the Rams and 49ers are playing the first-ever NFL regular season game the following night in Australia (Friday morning in Melbourne but timed to be a regular Thursday night game in the U.S.).
It will be the first time the regular-season opener has been on a Wednesday since 2012 when the Giants hosted Dallas, a game moved so as not to conflict with President Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention.
It will be just the fifth NFL game played on a Wednesday since 1950 and the first for the Seahawks.
The rest of the Seahawks’ 2026 regular-season schedule will be unveiled Thursday at 5 p.m.