Seahawks schedule: Super Bowl redux start, L.A. 2x late, primetime glows galore

It’s a Super Bowl rematch to start.

Six primetime games, including Seattle’s first Christmas game.

Then an NFC championship game rematch with a bitter rival to end it.

The Seahawks released their 2026 schedule Thursday. And its profile matches that of a defending Super Bowl champion.

Seattle will begin defense of their title with the team it beat in Super Bowl 60 the last game the Seahawks played, in February. The New England Patriots are coming to Lumen Field to kickoff the NFL season Wednesday, Sept. 9, in a 5:20 p.m. game on NBC. It’s the first Wednesday game in the Seahawks’ 51-year history.

That’s the first of six games the league put Seattle showcased at night to a national television audience.

Another is the Seahawks’ first Christmas game, at home Friday, Dec. 25 against the division-rival Los Angeles Rams. That rematch of the NFC championship game from last season is a 5:15 p.m. kickoff at Lumen Field on Fox. It will be the second Friday game in Seahawks history, and the first since December 1985.

Seattle plays L.A. twice in the final three games. In week 18, it’s Seahawks at Rams in Inglewood, California. The league obviously expects those two matchups in weeks 16 and 18 to help if not outright decide the NFC West again.

Seattle’s bye is in week 11, Nov. 22. That’s not far off the optimal midpoint of the regular season.

The bye comes after three primetime games in a row — at Denver on a Thursday in week six Oct. 15, home against Kansas City on Sunday night Oct. 25 at Lumen Field and home against Chicago Nov. 8 on a Monday night to end the league’s week eight — then a home game against division-rival and a trip to to play the Raiders in week 10, Sunday, Nov. 15.