Seahawks to host Patriots in 2026 Week 1 opener

The NFL released its 2026 regular-season schedule on May 14 and put Seattle at the center of opening week. The defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks will host the New England Patriots at Lumen Field on Wednesday, Sept. 9, in the league’s annual kickoff game, according to the NFL’s schedule announcement. (media.nfl.com) Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC. The matchup is a rematch of Super Bowl LX, which Seattle won in February. The 2026 schedule spans 18 weeks and 272 games, the NFL said. The league said the season will end in Week 18 with 16 division games split across Saturday, Jan. 9, and Sunday, Jan. 10. NFL.com also said the 2026 slate includes nine international games and a Christmas Day tripleheader. (seahawks.com) ### Why is the opener on a Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday? Sept. 9 falls on a Wednesday, and the NFL said the season will begin that night in Seattle. The next night, Sept. 10, the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers are scheduled to play at Melbourne Cricket Ground in the first regular-season NFL game in Australia, a scheduling wrinkle the league built into kickoff week. (media.nfl.com) The Patriots said the game will be their first ever played on a Wednesday. New England also called it the first Week 1 Super Bowl rematch since the 2016 season, when Denver hosted Carolina after Super Bowl 50. (media.nfl.com) ### What else did the league put into the 2026 schedule? The NFL said each team will again play 17 regular-season games and three preseason games. The league said the NFC is the home conference for the 17th game in 2026, the sixth straight season under the current 17-game format. Nine international games will be played across four continents and seven countries, NFL.com said a day before the full release. (media.nfl.com) The announced sites include Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, London, Munich, Madrid and Paris, with the Jaguars and 49ers each slated for two international appearances. (patriots.com) ### How prominent is Seattle on the national schedule? The Seahawks said their 2026 schedule includes a franchise-record six primetime games, five of them at Lumen Field. The club also said it has a Week 11 bye. (media.nfl.com) Christmas Day is one of those national windows. NFL.com said the Dec. 25 tripleheader will include Packers at Bears, Bills at Broncos and Rams at Seahawks, giving Seattle a holiday home game late in the season. ### What does New England’s early schedule look like? New England opens at Seattle on Sept. 9 and returns home in Week 2 to face Pittsburgh on Sept. 20, according to the Patriots’ official schedule page. (nfl.com) The Patriots are also scheduled to play Detroit in Munich on Nov. 15 and have a Week 11 bye. The Patriots said they will play in six nationally televised games in 2026. Their schedule page lists additional standalone windows at Chicago on Oct. 22, at the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 29, home against Minnesota on Dec. 10 and at Kansas City on Dec. 21. (seahawks.com) ### Where can fans find the full schedules now? (nfl.com) NFL.com published the full 18-week regular-season schedule on May 14 as part of its annual release. Team-specific schedules are also live on Seahawks.com and Patriots.com with dates, kickoff times and broadcast windows. Week 1 begins on Wednesday, Sept. 9, in Seattle, and the rest of the opening weekend runs through Monday, Sept. 14, under the league’s released slate. (patriots.com) Seattle’s Christmas Day game against the Rams and New England’s Nov. 15 trip to Munich are among the dates now on the calendar. (media.nfl.com) (patriots.com)