Seahawks to open season vs Patriots

The NFL released its 2026 regular-season schedule on May 14, and the first game on the calendar is Seattle’s home opener against New England on Wednesday, Sept. 9. The league said the game will be played at Lumen Field at 8:20 p.m. ET and televised by NBC, making it the annual kickoff showcase for the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks. Seattle and New England are meeting again seven months after Super Bowl LX, which the Seahawks won 29-13, according to NFL.com’s Week 1 release. The league described the matchup as the third Super Bowl rematch to be played on kickoff weekend. ### Why is the opener on a Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday? (media.nfl.com) Wednesday, Sept. 9, is the league’s opening night because Week 1 also includes a Thursday game in Melbourne, Australia, between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 10. The NFL said that game at Melbourne Cricket Ground will be the first regular-season NFL game played in Australia. (media.nfl.com) The NFL’s Week 1 slate then continues on Sunday, Sept. 13, and Monday, Sept. 14, according to the league’s schedule release. NFL.com listed Giants-Cowboys as the Week 1 Sunday night game and Chiefs-Broncos as the Monday night opener. ### What exactly did the league announce on May 14? (media.nfl.com) May 14 was the full release date for the 2026 NFL regular-season schedule, which the league said spans 18 weeks and 272 games. The NFL said each team will play 17 regular-season games and three preseason games for the sixth straight year. (operations.nfl.com) NFL Football Operations said the 2026 schedule includes a record nine international games across four continents, seven countries and eight stadiums. The listed host cities are Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Madrid, Munich and Mexico City. ### How does Seattle’s opener fit into the broader schedule story? (media.nfl.com) NFL.com said the 2026 schedule features 272 games played on six different days of the week across 18 weeks in eight countries, creating what it called “quirks and wrinkles” tied to travel and timing. The league also said schedule makers weigh more than 26,000 factors, including stadium availability, travel requirements, prime-time games, competitive fairness and division rivalries. (operations.nfl.com) Ben McWilliams of NFL.com wrote that travel, rest and prime-time placement can shape how teams experience the season, and league coverage around the release highlighted those effects alongside the international slate. CBS Sports separately published a team-by-team schedule guide with dates, kickoff times, TV channels and opponents for all 32 franchises. (nfl.com) ### What do the Seahawks and Patriots schedules show beyond Week 1? The Seahawks’ official team site said Seattle’s 2026 schedule includes a franchise-record six prime-time games, with five of them at Lumen Field, and a Week 11 bye. That makes the opener part of a schedule that gives Seattle repeated national windows at home. (nfl.com) Patriots.com said Week 1 against Seattle is the first time New England will open a season against the Seahawks and the seventh time the club has opened against an NFC opponent. The team site also said the Patriots will play Detroit in Munich on Nov. 15 and have their bye in Week 11. ### Where can fans check the full schedule and TV details? (seahawks.com) NFL.com and NFL Football Operations both published the full 2026 schedule on May 14, with week-by-week listings and special-event games. CBS Sports and USA Today also posted full schedule pages that list dates, opponents and television windows for all 32 teams. (patriots.com) Sept. 9 is the next key date in this story, when New England visits Seattle for the 2026 opener at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, according to the league and the Patriots’ official schedule page. (media.nfl.com)