The 2026 National Football League season is set to kick off this week, and defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are showing no signs of being weighed down by the pressure that comes with wearing the crown.
In February, the Seahawks dominated the New England Patriots to claim their second Super Bowl title in franchise history, marking a historic milestone for the team and one of their leading coaching staff members. British-born defensive coordinator Aden Durde, who retained his position with the Seahawks entering the new season, made history as the first non-American coach to lift the sport’s biggest prize. Reflecting on that groundbreaking win, Durde shared his thoughts with BBC Sport in an exclusive interview.
“ That experience was honestly unreal, it’s hard to put into words how it felt,” Durde said. “For me, that run to the Super Bowl really reminded me why I love this job and why I put in the work every single day. What drives me is the constant process of improving, getting better one day at a time. Now we get to do this all again, and that’s what’s so exciting about this season.”
The Seahawks will get their title defense underway with a highly anticipated rematch of last season’s Super Bowl against the Patriots, with kickoff scheduled for 01:20 BST on Thursday, which is Wednesday local time in the United States. While the Patriots will be the first test for Seattle, the early favorite to claim Super Bowl 61 is the Seahawks’ divisional rival Los Angeles Rams, who have dramatically upgraded an already star-studded roster this off-season. The two teams split two nail-biting regular season matchups last year before Seattle pulled out a dramatic playoff win over the Rams in a game that will go down as an instant classic. When asked about what the storied rivalry will look like this season, Durde remained focused on his own team’s preparation.
“ No one can predict what this rivalry will look like this year,” Durde added. “That’s what the entire off-season is for: we’ve put in all the work to sharpen our skills, get physically and mentally ready for battle, and now it’s time to go.”
This season’s schedule brings with it several unprecedented changes, driven by a unique calendar quirk. Since 2004, the defending champion has hosted the NFL’s opening game of the season. Normally, the opening game is held on a Thursday, but the 2026 campaign kicks off one week later than the traditional timeline, which puts it in conflict with long-standing U.S. laws that ban professional football broadcasts on Fridays and Saturdays starting in the second week of September. This scheduling conflict has forced the league to move the Seahawks’ opening game to Wednesday, marking the first time the season opener has been held on a Wednesday since 2012. The Rams’ international game against the San Francisco 49ers, set to be held at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia in front of a sellout crowd of 100,000 fans, will kick off at 10:35 a.m. local time on Friday, which translates to 01:35 BST on Friday, or Thursday evening U.S. time. This will be the first season opener to feature a Super Bowl rematch since 2016.
Beyond the opening week, the 2026 schedule is packed with historic firsts and key can’t-miss matchups. Next Thursday will see the Buffalo Bills play their first game at their brand new stadium, Highmark Stadium, when they host the Detroit Lions. On October 25, one of the most anticipated matchups of the regular season will take place: last season’s Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Kenneth Walker will make a quick return to Seattle just months after leaving the team to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs. Walker made history last February as the first running back to claim Super Bowl MVP since 1998, and he is the first Super Bowl MVP to move to a new team immediately after winning the award since 2003.
The 2026 season also brings expanded football action during the U.S. holiday season, a period that has become synonymous with the sport. This year, the NFL will host its first ever game on Thanksgiving Eve, with the Rams – who will appear in a league-leading seven primetime games this season – hosting the Green Bay Packers on November 25. That will be followed by a traditional triple-header of games on Thanksgiving Day, November 26. The holiday slate opens with two divisional rivalry games: the Detroit Lions host the Chicago Bears at 18:00 GMT, followed by the Dallas Cowboys welcoming the Philadelphia Eagles at 21:25 GMT. If star Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes recovers fully from his off-season injury, fans will get to see his legendary rivalry with Buffalo’s Josh Allen renewed when the Chiefs visit the Bills at 01:20 GMT on Friday. For the fourth consecutive year, the Thanksgiving schedule will conclude with a Black Friday matchup on November 27, when the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Denver Broncos.
Streaming platforms will also carry a growing number of games this season. 17 regular season games will be streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime, including a Christmas Eve matchup between the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles, and a New Year’s Eve clash between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals. Netflix will stream five games this season, including two of the three Christmas Day matchups: the Chicago Bears host the Green Bay Packers at 18:00 GMT, followed by the Denver Broncos hosting the Buffalo Bills at 21:30 GMT. The Christmas Day triple-header will wrap up with a rematch of last season’s dramatic NFC Championship game, when the Seahawks host the Rams at 01:15 GMT on December 26.
The NFL continues its aggressive global expansion this season, with a record nine international regular season games on the schedule, up from seven last year. For the first time in league history, Australia and France will host regular season games. In total, regular season games will be held across four continents and seven countries: the NFL will return to Mexico after a four-year hiatus, while Brazil, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom will all retain their spots on the international schedule.
The 17-week regular season will conclude on Sunday, January 10, 2027, with the playoffs set to get underway six days later on January 16. The season will culminate with Super Bowl 61, scheduled for Sunday, February 14, 2027 – marking the first time the NFL’s championship game has ever been held on Valentine’s Day. Coincidentally, the following day is Presidents’ Day, a federal public holiday in the United States, giving fans an extra day to recover from the big game. Super Bowl 61 will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the most expensive stadium ever built at $5.5 billion. Opened in 2020, SoFi Stadium is shared by the Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers, and this will be the ninth Super Bowl held in the greater Los Angeles area. The Rams previously won a Super Bowl on their home field in 2022, after the team built a star-studded roster ahead of that season and the gamble paid off with a 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in front of 70,048 fans. The Rams are looking to replicate that magic this season, trading for elite defensive stars Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie during the off-season, and convincing 35-year-old three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald to come out of retirement on a one-year deal to chase another title.