The 2026 NFL season opens Wednesday night in Seattle with a Super Bowl rematch. The defending champion Seahawks host the New England Patriots at Lumen Field, seven months after beating them 29-13 in Super Bowl LX. Kickoff is 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, and Seattle is favored by 3.5.
What time is Patriots vs Seahawks, and what channel is it on?
Wednesday, September 9 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, with streaming on Peacock. A digital antenna picks up NBC free over the air.
The Wednesday start is the unusual part. The league opened on a Wednesday rather than the traditional Thursday, and it is the only game that night. Thursday’s game goes to Australia, and Amazon’s Thursday Night Football package does not begin until Week 2 on September 17.
The matchup
This is a rematch of Super Bowl LX, which Seattle won 29-13. The Seahawks open the season as the fourth choice in the Super Bowl LXI market, behind the Rams, Bills and Ravens.
The line has been remarkably stable. Seattle opened at -4, touched -4.5 in June, and has spent most of the summer at -3.5, which is where it sits now. The total at 44.5 is low for an opener, which reflects the way the Super Bowl itself played out: the two teams combined for only 12 points through three quarters.
Prediction and odds
Seattle -3.5, and the under. Season openers between two well coached teams tend to be sloppier and lower scoring than the same matchup in December, and the market clearly agrees given where the total sits. New England has the profile of a team that keeps this within a score, but a rematch at Lumen Field with a banner going up is a difficult first assignment.
Our pick: Seahawks 23, Patriots 17.
The bottom line
The season starts with the two best teams from last year, on a Wednesday, on network television. Seattle is the modest favorite at home and the market expects a defensive, field position game rather than a shootout.