The Seahawks open their title defense with a rare Week 1 Super Bowl rematch vs the Patriots

The Seattle Seahawks have gotten an offseason full of congratulations, their Super Bowl rings and now will get the chance to see the banner raised before kicking off this season with hopes of repeating.

But the Seahawks know that none of that matters once the 2026 NFL season starts.

“I don’t see a single person in the building patting themselves on the back for what we did last year,” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “I think everybody in the building understands that we have to start from the bottom all over again. To get to the top of that mountain, we have to start at the bottom.”

They will start the season the same way the last one ended, by facing the New England Patriots seven months and one day after beating them 29-13 in Super Bowl 60 in a dominating performance punctuated by a wild cigar and champagne celebration in the locker room of one of their division rivals, the San Francisco 49ers.

This marks only the third time in NFL history that there is a Super Bowl rematch in Week 1. It also happened in 2016, when defending champion Denver beat Carolina 21-20, and in the first year of the merger, when Minnesota avenged a loss to Kansas City with a 27-10 victory in 1970.

In all, this will be the 12th time the two teams that played in the Super Bowl meet the following season, with the champion having won eight of the previous 11 matchups, including Philadelphia’s win over Kansas City in Week 2 last season.

The Patriots know nothing that happens Wednesday can make up for the result last February so the focus is on getting going this season.

“This is our chance to start the season off strong, on a good foot and knowing that the opponent that we have,” Patriots quarterback Drake Maye said. “You get to say, you get a little bit of a revenge game, but I would not say revenge game. They won the big one, and we got to start the season off. You cannot get that game back that we lost, so we are on to something new.”

New England (17-4) at Seattle (17-3)

When/where to watch: Wednesday, 8:20 p.m. EDT, NBC

Latest odds: Seahawks by 3 1/2.

Last meeting: Seahawks beat the Patriots 29-13 in the Super Bowl on Feb. 8, in Santa Clara, California.

Series record: Seahawks lead 12-9.

Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez vs Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Two of the best at their positions will face each other in the opener after getting big contract extensions in the offseason. Gonzalez got his deal just before the opener while Smith-Njigba got paid in March. Smith-Njigba won AP Offensive Player of the Year last season when he had 119 catches for 1,793 yards and 10 TDs. Gonzalez was a Pro Bowler last season and had seven pass breakups and one INT in four playoff games. Gonzalez has been in a contract dispute this summer but the Patriots will need him on the field for the opener. Gonzalez allowed only one completion in coverage in the Super Bowl, according to PFF, on a 16-yard pass to Smith-Njigba. He also had three pass breakups in the game, including one on what looked like would be a TD pass to Smith-Njigba.

— New England has lost four of its last five season openers. Coach Mike Vrabel has a 2-5 record in season openers.

— Patriots QB Drake Maye was the MVP runner-up last season after leading the NFL in completion percentage (72%), passer rating (113.5) and finished in the top five in TD passes (31) and yards passing (4,394). But he struggled in the playoffs with an 82.2 passer rating in four games.

— WR A.J. Brown makes his debut for New England after being acquired from Philadelphia in an offseason trade. Brown had 78 catches for 1,003 yards and seven TDs last season for the Eagles. Brown is the fifth player ever with at least 1,000 yards receiving and seven TD catches in six of his first seven seasons.

— Seattle has won five of its last seven season openers and is 1-1 in Week 1 under coach Mike Macdonald.

— Seahawks QB Sam Darnold has won 14 starts and thrown for more than 4,000 yards in each of the past two seasons. The only other player with back-to-back 14-win seasons was Tom Brady in 2003-04.

— The 28 turnovers for Seattle in the 2025 regular season were the second-most in the league. The Seahawks then became the only Super Bowl champion to commit no turnovers in the playoffs.

— Seattle led the NFL last season allowing opponents to convert just 32.1% of third downs.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here