NFL schedule release: Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl rematch will kick off 2026 season

The 2026 NFL season will kick off with a Super Bowl rematch. Mike Macdonald, Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks will face off against Mike Vrabel, Drake Maye and the New England Patriots after raising their championship banner on 9 September in the first of the season’s 272 games.

The Seahawks dominated the Patriots in a 29-13 victory in February that secured the franchise’s second NFL title.

The game will mark just the third time that the teams that played in the Super Bowl face off again in Week 1. The last time came in 2016, when the Broncos beat the Panthers. The Eagles followed up a Super Bowl victory with another win over the Chiefs in Week 2 last year.

“Yes, it was definitely a key data point for us,” NFL executive Hans Schroeder said. “We saw what a big draw that was and so we just thought it was really fun. I think it’s been a decade since we did Denver and Carolina in Super Bowl 50 and came back in Week 1 the next year. We thought it was a fun way to start the season again with New England in Seattle, coming off that Super Bowl, certainly a ton to play for. Let our fans see if they play again.”

The NFL season will be opening on a Wednesday for just the second time in league history.

The opener will be Vrabel’s first game since the reigning AP Coach of the Year missed the third day of this year’s draft to seek counseling following the publication of photos of him and NFL reporter Dianna Russini at an Arizona resort. The photos led to Russini’s resignation from The Athletic less than a week later.

Other opening week highlights were announced before the full schedule release on Thursday night. The San Francisco 49ers will face the Rams in Melbourne on 10 September in the first of a record nine international games. The Cowboys and Giants meet in the first Sunday night game of the season while the Broncos and Chiefs go head to head in the first Monday night game.

Raiders fans get to see No 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza – probably on the sideline watching Kirk Cousins start – in Week 1 when Las Vegas host Miami.