The defending Super Bowl champions finally know their schedule for the 2026 NFL season. The Seattle Seahawks will kick off the campaign by hosting the New England Patriots for a Super Bowl rematch on Wednesday, September 9.
The Seahawks didn't find much trouble getting past Mike Vrabel's team in their last meeting. However, whatever happened in the past is in the past, and the Patriots will be highly motivated to get back at the champions.
Seattle won't have reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III leading the way on the ground this time around, but they will have a promising replacement in rookie RB Jadarian Price. Given how well Walker fared against the Pats in February, Price should be licking his chops and planning a celebration for his first career touchdown.
Seattle Seahawks' Jadarian Price will wreak havoc vs. the Patriots
As mentioned, the Patriots will likely make adjustments from last season's defeat, and the Seahawks won't have Klint Kubiak calling the shots on offense. That doesn't mean they won't have a similar game plan, which means toting the ball early and often to take pressure off Sam Darnold's shoulders.
Price is a speedy and elusive running back who can turn the corner in the blink of an eye. The Patriots actually did an amazing job against running backs last season, giving up just 11 rushing scores, tied for the fourth-fewest. They even managed to keep Walker out of the end zone in that game, though he still torched hem for 135 rushing yards on 27 carries.
Even so, with two big-play specialists like Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Rashid Shaheed roaming free, Mike Vrabel will just have to pick his poison. If he overcommits to avoid getting burned on the ground again, Darnold will find his speedy weapons on the open field all day. He might have a better shot trying to stop the rookie running back.
Price won't have Zach Charbonnet taking goal-line carries away from him, at least early in the season, and as a highly anticipated first-round selection, he should be on the field for every scoring opportunity.
Losing Kenneth Walker III was, obviously, a big blow for a team that recorded 19 rushing touchdowns last season, and not having Charbonnet to start the season will only put more weight on the rookie's shoulders. As such, it's hard to envision a scenario where Mike Macdonald doesn't put him in a position to find paydirt in his debut.
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