The NFL’s 107th season gets rolling Wednesday in Seattle, stretches into Thursday in Australia, then explodes into a Sunday slate loaded with 13 games before Week 1 wraps up Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Denver Broncos.
That means the league is officially back, and the opening week comes with a few numbers worth keeping in mind as the first snaps of 2026 hit the field.
Start with the defending champions. The Seattle Seahawks will open their title defense at Lumen Field against the New England Patriots, the same team they beat in Super Bowl LX.
If history is any guide, that’s a rough draw for New England. Defending Super Bowl winners are 40-18-1 in their first game of the next season, a .686 winning percentage that gives the champs a pretty sturdy edge right out of the gate.
Seattle also arrives in Week 1 riding a serious wave. Mike Macdonald’s club began last season 3-2, then dropped a 21-19 decision to the Rams at SoFi Stadium in Week 11, a game in which Sam Darnold threw four interceptions.
That turned out to be the Seahawks’ last loss. Since then, including a three-game postseason run, they’ve stacked up 10 straight wins and have outscored opponents 290-145 over that stretch.
One of the more eye-popping records that still stands is 554, the NFL mark for passing yards in a game. Norm Van Brocklin set it in Week 1 of the 1951 season, throwing for 554 yards and five touchdowns in the Los Angeles Rams’ 54-14 win over the New York Yanks at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Since then, there have been 27 games with a quarterback hitting 500-plus passing yards - 25 in the regular season and two in the postseason. The most recent came in 2024, when then-Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins threw for 509 yards against the Buccaneers.
Another number tied to the recent past is 7. Going into the 2025 season, the NFC East had gone more than two decades without a repeat champion.
That changed when the Philadelphia Eagles, under Nick Sirianni, won the division again after taking four straight from 2001-04 under head coach Andy Reid. The Eagles won three fewer games than they had in their 14-3 Super Bowl LIX season, but it still got them back atop the division.
The other seven divisions all had different winners than they did the year before.
And then there’s 10, the number of new head coaches in the league this offseason. That’s the most since 2022, when there were also 10.
The new names on the sideline this year are Mike LaFleur with the Cardinals, Kevin Stefanski with the Falcons, Jesse Minter with the Ravens, Joe Brady with the Bills, Todd Monken with the Browns, Klint Kubiak with the Raiders, Jeff Hafley with the Dolphins, John Harbaugh with the Giants, Mike McCarthy with the Steelers and Robert Saleh with the Titans. McCarthy stands out in one other way: he is only the fourth different head coach for the Steelers since 1969.
In Other News...
Seahawks Just Sent Their Strongest Signal Yet About Melbourne
The Seahawks are leaning harder into their push in Australia and New Zealand, announcing a strategic partnership with Collingwood that ties the NFL club to one of the biggest names in Australian football. It is part of Seattles marketing rights under the NFL Global Markets program, and it gives the team a more visible platform in a region where it has been looking to build real traction rather than just occasional awareness.
Melbourne will be the first major stage for that effort, with the two clubs set to co-host a kids AFL and NFL crossover flag football clinic. For Seattle, the move is less about a single event than about showing it is serious about planting roots abroad, using a local partner to connect with fans who may already know the sport through a different lens. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Secondary Suddenly Faces A Week 1 Problem
A thin-looking Seahawks secondary got thinner this week when Ty Okada was ruled out for the upcoming game because of a hamstring injury. Seattle also listed Nick Emmanwori as questionable, leaving the safety group in a shaky spot heading into a matchup where depth could matter quickly. Tory Horton is also questionable, but the bigger concern for Seattle is how it will patch together the back end if the injury picture does not improve before kickoff.
The roster math becomes even more important because the Seahawks may need to elevate safeties from the practice squad to cover the gaps. Across the field, New England has already ruled out running back TreVeyon Henderson and backup center Ben Brown, while defensive tackle Christian Barmore is expected to play, so both teams are still sorting out their Week 1 availability. For Seattle, the question now is not just who is healthy enough to suit up, but whether the secondary can survive the day if the list stays this short. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Open With A Rematch That Feels Different This Time
A season opener against New England already carries some extra weight for Seattle because it comes as a rematch of the previous years Super Bowl, and the game now has even more intrigue after the Patriots locked up Christian Gonzalez on a four-year, $135 million extension. The deal made him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history and adds another layer to a matchup that figures to be watched closely in both cities, especially with the Seahawks and Patriots each trying to show how much they have changed since that championship meeting.
For Seattle, the bigger picture is not just the logo on the other sideline but the shifting cast around it. New Englands offensive line and receiving corps have both been upgraded, which gives the Patriots a better chance to stress a Seahawks defense that will have to answer some different problems this time around. However it plays out, it is the kind of opener that can tell a lot about where Seattle stands right away, and it sets up a meeting that feels less like a replay than a test of how far both teams have come. [Read more 🡒]