NFL Opening-Night Decision Starts in Seattle: Chiefs, Bears in Play

With the Seahawks’ Super Bowl LX title in hand, focus now turns to the 2026 season, and more pointedly, which opponent will start next season in Seattle. 

The NFL is due to release its schedule for next season in May, in keeping with the league’s typical practice. The Seahawks are set to host the season-opening game at Lumen Field, continuing the league’s tradition of the defending Super Bowl champion having a primetime home game on NBC to start the new season.

By terms of the league’s long-established schedule formula, the Seahawks’ opponents for the 2026 season have already been determined, and the away team for that high-profile season opener in Seattle will be one of these nine possibilities:

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

Two immediate options leap off this list: the Chiefs and Bears. The 2026 season opener could represent the return of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes as he recuperates from a torn knee ligament. The Chiefs are also the NFL’s top viewership draw, playing in four of the five most-watched regular-season games in 2025, including a record-setting clash on Thanksgiving. 

Chicago, meanwhile, had a breakthrough season in 2025, reaching the divisional playoffs and drawing big television audiences as well.

The Cowboys, consistently one of the top viewership draws in the league along with the Chiefs, are also a noted possibility, but Dallas was tapped to start the 2025 season against the Eagles. 

The Super Bowl rematch against the Patriots could be reserved for later in the season, as that is guaranteed to draw significant viewers whenever it’s played. The Super Bowl LIX rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs happened in Week 2 of the 2025 season, drawing an average of 33.8 million viewers, the NFL’s most-watched game of the regular season outside of two Thanksgiving games. 

International Considerations 

The Rams and 49ers, meanwhile, are already slated to play in Melbourne in a game that almost certainly will happen in Week 1 of the 2026 season. 

Because of the significant time-zone considerations inherent in that matchup—the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia—it’s possible that it will be played on Thursday, Sept. 10, with the Seahawks moving a day earlier to a Wednesday slot.

Since all NFC teams in 2026 will have a ninth home game in the schedule rotation, there is also a heightened possibility of the Seahawks playing an international game. Seattle has rights to Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and Switzerland in the NFL’s Global Markets Program. The NFL will play in Munich next season, which would tap into the Seahawks’ territory. The Falcons, however, are angling to play in that game and also have rights to Germany, as do several other teams. 

Road Warriors 

Seattle’s road schedule next season includes games at five 2025 playoff teams: the Broncos, Eagles, Panthers, Rams, and 49ers.

Those matchups will similarly be in strong demand as networks jockey for top games in the coming weeks, as the upcoming schedule is finalized.