Three things Brock is watching for in Seahawks’ schedule release

The Seattle Seahawks and the rest of the NFL’s teams will learn what their 2026 schedules will be at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

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Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard shared the three factors he’ll be watching for with the Seahawks when schedules are released during his Blue 88 segment on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Wednesday.

When will Chiefs, Mahomes come to town?

The Seahawks will host the Kansas City Chiefs and two-time MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes this season. However, Mahomes is recovering from a torn left ACL and LCL suffered last December, leaving questions about his status for early this coming season.

“You’re not going to play them in the opener, we know that now,” Huard said. “Are you going to play them in September when Mahomes is still coming back from that injury? And we’ll see, they’re saying he’s ahead of schedule. He may start Week 1. I’d like to see Patrick Mahomes earlier in the year than I would later in the year.”

How are East Coast trips dispersed?

East coast trips, especially ones that include 10 a.m. Pacific Time kickoffs, have been a difficult challenge for many NFL teams over the years. However, the Seahawks have handled them rather well dating back to Pete Carroll’s tenure as head coach. In 2026, Seattle has just three trips to the Eastern Time Zone (Philadelphia, Washington, Carolina), and the game against the Eagles is a strong candidate for a primetime matchup.

“There were six East Coast trips in 2025 and they did unbelievably well,” Huard said. “If you remember the home (and) road (records) in 2025, the road was much kinder than the home schedule was (last) year. So, Mike Macdonald’s carried over the Pete Carroll success in the (Eastern) Time Zone… So, how are those (games) staggered? Are they back-to-back? Are they sprinkled in throughout the season?”

Scheduling quirk Brock doesn’t want to see

The NFL schedule can produce some weird quirks and include some head-scratching decisions. One that Huard would like to see the Seahawks avoid is facing the same division foe twice in a three-week span, which happened to them during the 2023 (San Francisco) and 2024 (Arizona) seasons.

“I don’t like that. I don’t want to see any part of that,” Huard said. “… We got 17 games. Can’t you figure out a way in your algorithms to not have to play a division foe twice in three weeks?”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app. 

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