Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks will open the 2026 NFL season on September 9 against the New England Patriots, the team they beat in last season’s championship showcase. The Wednesday night contest at Seattle’s Lumen Field was among several highlights of the schedule revealed on Thursday. It will mark the first time since 2016, when the reigning champion Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers, that a season opened with a repeat of the previous campaign’s Super Bowl.
The game will be played on Wednesday to accommodate the first regular-season game in Melbourne, Australia — a September 10 clash between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. That game is part of a slate of a record nine international games, played in seven countries across four continents, announced on Wednesday. The international games include the NFL’s first ever regular-season game in France, where the New Orleans Saints will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Stade de France on October 25.
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The league is expanding its Thanksgiving week offerings, starting with a Thanksgiving Eve game between the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams. The traditional Thanksgiving Day games will see the Detroit Lions take on NFC North division rivals Chicago, the Dallas Cowboys hosting the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFC East clash, and the Buffalo Bills hosting AFC rivals the Kansas City Chiefs. The league will extend its holiday schedule with another Black Friday game the day after Thanksgiving when the Pittsburgh Steelers host Denver.
NFC rivals Chicago and Green Bay will meet in one of three games set for Christmas Day. Other tantalizing contests unveiled on Thursday include an October 25 clash between Seattle and Kansas City. Running back Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player for the Seahawks, joined the Chiefs as a free agent in the offseason. The Las Vegas Raiders, who made quarterback Fernando Mendoza the top pick in the NFL draft, open their season hosting the Miami Dolphins on September 13.
The regular season will conclude on January 10, 2027, and the playoffs will conclude with the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on February 14. It will be the first time the Super Bowl has been played on Valentine’s Day.
© 2024 AFP
