The Seattle Seahawks schedule begins with a clear test on Wednesday night, when they open their 2026 season against the New England Patriots at Lumen Field at 8:20 p.m. For a team coming off a championship run, the opener is more than a date on the calendar. It is the first chance to show how the next chapter looks after an offseason that brought major change.
The Seahawks won Super Bowl LX and are now trying to become just the 10th repeat champion in NFL history and the third this century. That alone puts a spotlight on every game, but especially the first one. Seattle also lost four key players in free agency, and it lost Klint Kubiak as well, leaving Sam Darnold and the offense with a first-time coordinator.
What the opener means
The matchup with New England gives Seattle an immediate reminder that defending a title is usually harder than winning one. There is history behind the moment, too. Twelve years earlier, the Seahawks claimed their first Lombardi Trophy at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and this group is now trying to build something that lasts beyond one season.
That is why the tone around the team has drawn attention. At the start of a training camp practice on Aug. 10, Richard Sherman spoke with Mike Macdonald and came away with the sense that the Seahawks have not relaxed after winning it all. Sherman said, in effect, that the team felt like a "hungry-ass team," and he added that he did not sense anything but grind and work.
Macdonald’s response was characteristically short and direct: "Umm, I don't know," followed by, "It's just what we do, you know?"
Jarran Reed echoed that same idea. He said the team is "more focused than ever," that nobody is talking about the Super Bowl, and that the group is simply attacking the day. Reed also said he thinks the Seahawks are "more hungry this year, too," which is notable for a team that just finished celebrating a title.
The bigger picture in the NFC West
Seattle’s road back to another championship will not be easy, and the NFC West remains part of that challenge. The Los Angeles Rams’ offseason changes were mentioned as part of the competition, adding another layer to a division that should be competitive again.
For now, though, the focus is simple. The Seahawks schedule starts Wednesday night at home, with a chance to show whether the championship version of this team can stay sharp once the new season begins. The opener will not answer every question, but it should offer the first real look at how Seattle handles the pressure that comes with being the team everyone is chasing.
