There are opening nights that feel routine, and then there are opening nights that drag a championship memory right back onto the field. For the New England Patriots, this one does both. They are getting a Super Bowl LX rematch in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL regular season, and Josh McDaniels is not pretending the last meeting was close enough to shrug off.
McDaniels, the Patriots offensive coordinator, took the blame for February’s 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., and said the next game would look different. That matters because Super Bowl LX was not as tight as the scoreline suggested. Seattle led 19-0 in the fourth quarter, held New England to 161 total scrimmage yards and forced three turnovers while sacking the Patriots six times.
McDaniels points the finger at himself
“I didn't do a good enough job. Point it at me,” McDaniels said. He also noted that Seattle “out-everythinged” New England in the game, a blunt assessment that fits the way the championship unfolded. This was not a case of one late mistake deciding the result. It was a game in which the Seahawks controlled the terms for long stretches and never really let the Patriots find their footing.
That is why this rematch feels more meaningful than the average season opener. It is only the third time in NFL history that a Super Bowl rematch has opened a season, joining Super Bowl IV in 1970 and Super Bowl 50 in 2016. Rare matchups like that tend to reveal more than just revenge narratives. They test whether the losing team has actually changed, or simply hopes a fresh calendar will hide the same problems.
Why the rematch matters
McDaniels said the Patriots learned a lot from the loss and added that this would be “a different game” and “a new year.” He pointed to new players on both sides and said New England had tried to limit the opportunities Seattle created last season. That is the real football question here: can the Patriots do more than remember the lesson?
The answer probably starts with offense, where New England was overwhelmed in the championship game. Six sacks and three turnovers usually tell the story of protection failures, rushed decisions and a team that never settles into rhythm. If the Patriots are going to look different, it will not be because they simply want it more. It will be because they manage the line of scrimmage better, protect the ball and avoid the long stretches of empty possession that made Super Bowl LX so one-sided.
Seattle, meanwhile, gets the benefit of turning the opener into a celebration. The Seahawks will unveil their Super Bowl LX championship banner before kickoff at 8:20 p.m. ET, a reminder that they are the team arriving with the trophy and the Patriots are the team trying to rewrite the memory. That is a useful distinction, but not a fatal one. Openers can surprise people. They can also confirm what the previous season already said out loud.
For McDaniels, the message is less about revenge than responsibility. He has already owned the loss. Now the Patriots offensive coordinator has to show that the explanation can become improvement. In a Week 1 rematch this rare, that may be the most important test of all.
