The Seattle Seahawks’ path back to the Super Bowl features no shortage of elite competition visiting Lumen Field.
One down, (at least) 29 to go.
NFL fans will wait all day … and the day after, and the day after, and seemingly countless days after … for the next Sunday night, but the first week of such a purgatorial stretch is in the books. The football-loving public is just over a week removed from watching the Seattle Seahawks prevail against the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl slugfest. Despite the distance on the calendar, focus has already turned to next season, where Seattle sits in reasonably fair shape to protect its title.
The journey to a repeat, of course, begins in Week 1, where it stands to reason that the defending champion Seahawks will partake in one of the first, if not the first game on the 2026-27 docket, as has been tradition, for the most part, since 2004. The defending champion gets one last showcase with the Lombardi Trophy and raises its commemorative banner, all while planning for another go at the title.
Seattle’s incoming home docket at Lumen Field features no shortage of worthy competitors, with nine heading northwest now that NFC teams have the extra home game next time around. Who might lead the charge against the Seahawks as the rest of the 31 seek a dethroning? TeamFB7 ranks the most attractive possibilities below …
9. Arizona Cardinals
Divisional duels often make for entertaining gridiron theater. But, beyond the ornithological interests, it’s clear that the current Cardinals (the lone NFC West team that missed the playoffs) don’t hold a candle to the Seahawks. NBC is long past the days of “Not Ready for Prime Time Players,” a category in which the Cardinals are firmly entrenched until further notice.
8. New England Patriots
The kickoff game has tended to avoid immediate Super Bowl rematches in the rare cases they’re on the table, last doing so when Denver faced Carolina again shortly after the 50th Big Game in 2016. After the relative dud that the Hawks and Patriots put up in Santa Clara—not that the Pacific Northwest is complaining—it’s doubtful that the league will look for any immediate sequel.
7. Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have been a popular pick for the defending champions’ Week 1 opponent: forced to deal with their own lack of postseason success, Dallas has watched three banner raisings since 2012, including last year’s in Philadelphia. The Cowboys’ next date with the defending champs will likely be among the most desired among the NFL’s TV partners, but it’s highly unlikely they’d subject America’s Team to another Thursday night kickoff.
6. Los Angeles Chargers
The Pacific Northwest and SoCal created a potent mix for gridiron fireworks last season, at least on the NFC side. Los Angeles’ offensive potential should be able to able to at least put a scare in the mighty Seattle defense, even if they went out with a relative whimper in their postseason cameo. Opening the season with (one of) the Super Bowl host(s) against the defending champion could also prove poetic and it’s another chance for Macdonald to take things personally: he and the Chargers head coach, the aforementioned Harbaugh’s brother Jim, previously worked together on a College Football Playoff run with the Michigan Wolverines in 2021.
5. Kansas City Chiefs
The Seahawks won’t be the only ones rocking new rings entering the 2026 season, the first to be staged since Travis Kelce’s tying of the knot with Taylor Swift … if he plays, of course. A potential Kelce retirement, in fact, might only up amp up the spotlight on the Chiefs, who may have to bid farewell to some recent ring-bearers in an attempt to reload after a shocking playoff miss. Kansas City would’ve very well topped this list if not for the uncertainty around franchise quarterback Patrick Mahomes: the chief Chief fully intends to be ready by Week 1 but special caution will be required not only for the severity of his ailments (tearing both his ACL and LCL) but the timing of them, as he went down in mid-December, shortly before Kansas City was officially eliminated.
4. San Francisco 49ers
The Seahawks’ divisional duels served as brilliant character builders on the road to the Lombardi Trophy hoist, including a trio against the Niners: Seattle dropped its opening game at Lumen Field to they of the SF oval before capping the campaign with a primetime win in Santa Clara that clinched the NFC regular season title and the bye that came with it. As if that wasn’t enough for the Niners to seek immediate revenge, Seattle laid down a 41-6 beatdown in the divisional playoffs before winning the Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium.
3. New York Giants
Despite the Giants’ recent stumbles, the NFL has hardly hesitated to paint its national television ledgers blue. The (presumed) return of metropolitan young guns like Malik Nabers and Cam Skattebo alongside rookie sensation Jaxson Dart also make the Giants a more attractive national option, as does the arrival of new head coach John Harbaugh (a former collaborator with Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald in Baltimore). The Giants might have to prove that they’re ready for the national stage first but a combination of familiarity, personality, and the New York groove might be too much for NBC to pass up.
2. Los Angeles Rams
A trio against those of the horned helmets left fans immediately wanting more: Seattle and SoCal (which, again, is hosting the Seahawks potential return trip next winter) played three games decided by a combined seven points, including a 31-27 win in the conference title game. The middle part of the series sandwich was a Thursday night thriller, one where the Seahawks erased a late 16-point deficit in less than five minutes of game time before prevailing in overtime. Two factors work against seeing immediate follow-ups against LA or San Francisco: the kickoff game has often avoided staging divisional matchups (doing so only four times since adopting the current “defending champ versus” format, once for a non-champion Bears-Packers rivalry match for the league’s 100th anniversary) and new reports (i.e. from John Ourand of Puck) suggest that the 49ers and Rams could open the 2026 international slate in Australia.
1. Chicago Bears
Sports fans live and die by the concept of “what if” and that’s exactly what awaits if Da Bears are chosen for the opening slot. Chicago became renowned for its late-game antics headlined by the clutch slinging of Caleb Williams’ arm. That nearly got them into an NFC title game tilt with the Seahawks but the Rams had other ideas, taking a 20-17 Divisional duel in overtime after Chicago had overcome a 21-3 deficit against the Packers in the wild card opener. Had they survived SoCal, the Bears would’ve faced Seattle for the conference’s Super Bowl bid. What better way to cap off a summer of wondering than with a chance to provide a vital, if not bittersweet, sense of closure to an otherwise sterling season?
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
