(Photo credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

For the first time since 2016, the first game of the NFL season will be a Super Bowl rematch.

The Seattle Seahawks will begin their title defense on Wednesday, Sept. 9 when they host the New England Patriots, the team they dominated for a 29-13 Super Bowl LX victory on Feb. 8.

This was one of the marquee matchups announced when the NFL announced its full 272-game schedule for the 2026 season Thursday night.

It's the fourth straight season that will feature a Super Bowl rematch.

Seattle's schedule also includes games against the three prior Super Bowl champions, with a Week 8 home game against the Kansas City Chiefs (Oct. 25), where their Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker III now plays, and a trip to see the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15 (Dec. 19).

The Seahawks will face the Los Angeles Rams, who they beat in the NFC Championship Game, twice in the final three weeks of the season on Christmas Day (home) and Jan. 10 (road) in the regular-season finale.

No. 1 overall pick quarterback Fernando Mendoza is likely to make his NFL debut for the Las Vegas Raiders when they host the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 on Sunday, Sept. 13.

A few teams which leapt into last season's playoffs will have to work to make it back-to-back postseason appearances.

The AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars will close their regular season with seven of their final 10 games away from home.

The NFC South champion Chicago Bears have the hardest 2026 schedule based on their opponents' combined 2025 win percentage (.550). Their schedule concludes with a game at Buffalo, home matchups against Green Bay and Detroit and a road trip to Minnesota, presenting a hard path in what should again be a closely contested division.

Conversely, the Cincinnati Bengals, who are coming off their first losing season since 2020, have the third-easiest schedule per last year's win percentages (.450). Opening against Tampa Bay, Houston, Pittsburgh and Jacksonville presents a challenge, but eight of their nine games after that are against teams that weren't in the playoffs last season.

The Kansas City Chiefs, looking to bounce back from missing the playoffs for the first time with Patrick Mahomes at QB, don't seem to have an easy path back to the postseason. The final seven weeks of their schedule includes consecutive road games at Buffalo, the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati as well as games against New England (home), San Francisco (home), the Los Angeles Chargers (road) and Las Vegas Raiders (home).

Super Bowl LXI, to be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., will conclude the season on Sunday, Feb. 14.

--Field Level Media