The wait is finally over. The Seattle Seahawks are back, and their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions begins Wednesday night.
The Seahawks will officially open the 2026 NFL season at home against the New England Patriots, bringing football back to Seattle in a matchup that feels like anything but a normal Week 1 game.
This isn’t just a season opener.
It’s a Super Bowl rematch.
The Champions Are Back
Seattle enters the season as the defending Super Bowl champions after defeating New England 29-13 in Super Bowl LX.
Now, the Seahawks have to prove they can do something that is incredibly difficult in the NFL: do it all over again.
Seattle returns much of the core that powered its championship run, including quarterback Sam Darnold, wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, linebacker Ernest Jones IV and defensive tackle Leonard Williams.
Darnold is coming off a breakout 2025 season in which he threw for more than 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns, giving Seattle plenty of confidence heading into the new campaign.
A New Offense, Same Expectations
There will be some changes in Seattle.
The Seahawks enter the season with Brian Fleury as their new offensive coordinator, meaning fans will get their first look at the new offensive system when the Patriots arrive at Lumen Field.
Seattle also selected running back Jadarian Price in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, giving the offense another young weapon.
The biggest challenge will be replacing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III, who left Seattle during the offseason.
Still, expectations remain extremely high.
The Defense Wants to Set the Tone
If Seattle is going to repeat, its defense will likely be a major reason why.
The Seahawks’ defense was one of the biggest reasons they captured the championship last season, and the unit returns several important pieces.
Ernest Jones IV is coming off a huge season with 126 tackles and five interceptions, while Leonard Williams recorded seven sacks in 2025.
Seattle will need that defense to be ready immediately because Drake Maye and the Patriots have added more weapons since their Super Bowl meeting.
The Rematch Is Finally Here
The storylines are everywhere.
The defending champions are raising their championship banner.
The Patriots are coming back to the same stadium where their Super Bowl dreams ended.
And the entire NFL will be watching to see whether Seattle can begin another championship run.
There are already a few injury questions heading into Wednesday night, including Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori, who was limited in practice with an ankle injury. Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson is also dealing with an ankle injury and remains questionable.
But when kickoff arrives, none of that will matter.
The Seahawks are champions again until somebody knocks them off.
Their title defense begins Wednesday night in Seattle.
The banner is going up. The lights are coming on. And the Seahawks are officially back.
