Who Seahawks could host in Week 1 NFL kickoff game

Over the past two decades, it’s become tradition for the reigning Super Bowl champion to kick off the NFL season with a Thursday night home game in Week 1.

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So, with the Seattle Seahawks back on top of the football world as the newly crowned Super Bowl champs, that means the league’s annual kickoff game will likely be in front of a raucous and celebratory crowd at Lumen Field.

Who could the Seahawks play in that Week 1 showdown?

The 2026 NFL schedule won’t be unveiled until this spring, but teams already know who their home and away opponents will be. And for the NFL – which likes to schedule blockbuster opening matchups – there are certainly no shortage of intriguing options for the league to choose from on the Seahawks’ slate.

Listed below are the nine opponents the Seahawks will face at home in 2026, followed by some thoughts on the likelihood of each opponent.

• Los Angeles Rams
• San Francisco 49ers
• Arizona Cardinals
• New England Patriots
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Los Angeles Chargers
• Chicago Bears
• Dallas Cowboys
• New York Giants

Under normal circumstances, the Rams would be a slam-dunk pick. The Seahawks and Rams were widely considered to be the NFL’s two best teams this season, and the bitter rivals squared off in three nail-biting clashes that were decided by a combined 7 points – capped by Seattle’s thrilling 31-27 win in the NFC title game two weeks ago.

However, the Rams are facing the 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, for the NFL’s first-ever game Down Under. And according to Sportico, NFL executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder said that matchup is likely to occur on either the Wednesday or Thursday of Week 1, which would give both teams extra time to recover from the 16-hour flight and 19-hour time difference.

So, it appears both the Rams and 49ers are both unlikely to be Seattle’s Week 1 opponent.

The Patriots are a strong candidate, as a Super Bowl rematch certainly would be compelling. However, given what a low-scoring, defensive struggle this matchup was on Sunday night, the NFL might also prefer to go a different route.

If Patrick Mahomes wasn’t coming off a torn ACL, the Chiefs would make a ton of sense. However, even though Mahomes hopes to be back by Week 1, the NFL probably doesn’t want to risk choosing a team that could very well be opening its season with a backup quarterback.

The Chargers would offer a great storyline, as Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh coached together at the University of Michigan in 2021, back when Harbaugh was the Wolverines’ head coach and Macdonald was his defensive coordinator. Macdonald also spent nine seasons coaching under Jim’s brother as a member of John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens staff. The Chargers also would be a quality opponent, coming off an 11-6 campaign, and they have one of the league’s better quarterbacks in Justin Herbert.

Seahawks-Bears was nearly the NFC title game matchup, and it’d certainly make for an intriguing Week 1 showdown this fall. For one, it’d pit the NFL’s top defensive play caller in Macdonald against one of the league’s top offensive play callers in Bears head coach Ben Johnson. Both coaches guided their teams to major improvements this season, with Seattle going from 10 wins in 2024 to 14 wins and a Super Bowl title in 2025, and the Bears going from five wins in 2024 to 11 wins and an NFC North title in 2025. On top of that, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is one of the most exciting young talents in the league.

Coming off a 7-9-1 campaign, the Cowboys aren’t nearly as interesting as many of the other teams on this list. But as “America’s Team,” the Cowboys always tend to be a massive ratings draw, which is why they’ve had a whopping 18 primetime games over the past three seasons.

The Giants and Cardinals were two of the worst teams in the NFL this past season, so it’s highly unlikely they’d be selected for the league’s season-opening showcase.

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