The last time Drake Maye and the Patriots walked off an NFL field, Seattle was celebrating a Super Bowl championship.
Now New England has to go right back there.
The 2026 NFL season opens Wednesday night with an incredible storyline as the Patriots travel to Lumen Field for a Super Bowl LX rematch against the Seahawks.
Seven months ago, Seattle beat New England 29-13 to win its second Lombardi Trophy. The Seahawks defense completely overwhelmed the Patriots, sacking Maye six times and keeping New England scoreless through the first three quarters.
Now comes the rematch.
And the NFL couldn’t have made it much more painful for New England.
Before kickoff, the Patriots will have to stand on the opposite sideline as Seattle unveils its Super Bowl championship banner in front of the same fan base that will be screaming at them all night.
The Patriots aren’t publicly calling this a revenge game.
Maye has acknowledged that New England can’t get the Super Bowl back, while saying the matchup gives the Patriots an opportunity to start a new season against the opponent that just beat them on the biggest stage.
But come on.
You know this one means something.
New England also spent the offseason trying to make sure what happened in February doesn’t happen again.
The Patriots added A.J. Brown to give Maye an elite receiving weapon and brought in Alijah Vera-Tucker to help an offensive line that was exposed badly in the Super Bowl.
Now we immediately get to see whether any of it worked.
Seattle gets its banner.
New England gets another shot at the team that took the Lombardi Trophy away from it.
You couldn’t ask for a better way to start the NFL season.
