The 2026 NFL season will kick off with a Super Bowl rematch. Mike Macdonald, Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks will face off against Mike Vrabel, Drake Maye and the New England Patriots after raising their championship banner on 9 September in the first of the season’s 272 games.
The Seahawks dominated the Patriots in a 29-13 victory in February that secured the franchise’s second NFL title.
The game will mark just the third time that the teams that played in the Super Bowl face off again in Week 1. The last time came in 2016, when the Broncos beat the Panthers. The Eagles followed up a Super Bowl victory with another win over the Chiefs in Week 2 last year.
“Yes, it was definitely a key data point for us,” NFL executive Hans Schroeder said. “We saw what a big draw that was and so we just thought it was really fun. I think it’s been a decade since we did Denver and Carolina in Super Bowl 50 and came back in Week 1 the next year. We thought it was a fun way to start the season again with New England in Seattle, coming off that Super Bowl, certainly a ton to play for. Let our fans see if they play again.”
The NFL season will be opening on a Wednesday for just the second time in league history.
The opener will be Vrabel’s first game since the reigning AP Coach of the Year missed the third day of this year’s draft to seek counseling following the publication of photos of him and NFL reporter Dianna Russini at an Arizona resort. The photos led to Russini’s resignation from The Athletic less than a week later.
Other opening week highlights were announced before the full schedule release on Thursday night. The San Francisco 49ers will face the Rams in Melbourne on 10 September in the first of a record nine international games. The Cowboys and Giants meet in the first Sunday night game of the season while the Broncos and Chiefs go head to head in the first Monday night game.
Raiders fans get to see No 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza – probably on the sideline watching Kirk Cousins start – in Week 1 when Las Vegas host Miami.
Josh Allen and the Bills host Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs on Thanksgiving night to complete a tripleheader. The Bears-Lions and Eagles-Cowboys matchups were previously released. Aaron Rodgers – maybe – and the Steelers host the Broncos on Black Friday. The Packers and Rams are playing on Thanksgiving Eve.
Santa Claus has to go through Philadelphia on Christmas Eve when the Eagles host the Texans on Thursday Night Football. The Christmas Day tripleheader features the Packers-Bears, Bills-Broncos and Rams-Seahawks.
International games
The league will play across four continents, starting with the Week 1 game in Australia. Sixteen of the league’s 32 teams will play at least one of their 17 regular-season games outside the United States.
The 49ers and Jacksonville each have two international games. San Francisco also face Minnesota in Mexico City in Week 11. The Jaguars have consecutive games in London in Weeks 5 and 6 against the Eagles and Texans. The Colts and Commanders also face off in London in Week 4.
The Steelers play the New Orleans Saints on 25 October in Paris in the NFL’s first regular-season matchup in France. The Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens go head to head in Rio de Janeiro in Week 3. The Bengals and Falcons are in Madrid in Week 8 and the Patriots and Lions play in Munich in Week 9.