The NFL’s 2026 regular season will kick off with a Super Bowl rematch.
The Seattle Seahawks will face off against the New England Patriots after raising their championship banner on Sept. 9 at Lumen Field, the first of the NFL’s 272 games that will set the field for the playoffs that determine the next Super Bowl champion.
The Seahawks dominated the Patriots in a 29-13 victory at Super Bowl LX in February — that matchup was played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California — to secure the franchise’s second NFL title.
This year’s league opener will mark just the third time ever the teams that played in the previous Super Bowl face off again in the first week the following season. The most recent time was in 2016, when the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers. Overall, the Super Bowl opponents have met 11 times the following season (including each of the past three years), and the reigning champions are 8-3 in those games.
The Philadelphia Eagles followed up their Super Bowl LIX victory in New Orleans with another win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the second week of the 2025 regular season.